The Celestial Dean barely felt the wings of the angel as he arrived, no doubt only because the Twin Angel allowed him to know of his presence.
"Is that child an idiot?" the angel asked with a curious glance at the Divine Cook, brewing his wine without care of the waterfall of lightning pouring down. Or rather, making use of it instead.
"He's a strange one, my Divine Cook student. Found him in the Sword River, wandering around without a clue, and without a Sword Soul either. I think he gains enlightenment from Cooking, Pure One." the Celestial Dean offered in a respectful voice.
"Ah, a food critic. He may join us in the Supreme Heaven soon, if he can obtain the qualification. And you have gained the 9th Star already, Fisherman. No doubt due to the disorder I sense in this realm." the other angel observed in a calculated voice.
The Celestial Dean just nodded, while waiting for the other shoe to drop, and squash someone by accident.
They waited patiently as the Tribulation continued, reaching 81000 lightning strikes and thus a new record in the Three Realms. Then again, the World Tree used to rule this place, for better or worse. And given the Tree Wars, plenty of people would say the rebellion removed a hated dictator, although the truth was much more complex.
"I sense the faint echo of a Song on this tree branch." the Twin Angel mused in a thoughtful voice, surprising the Dean to his core.
Nomological Dao and the use of Words was common to all immortals, but the skill to craft a Song was rare. So rare in fact, that only two people before had done it, and they both gained their Adamantium Ascension through it.
As the last bolt fell, the Divine Cook held up a cup of tea and nodded to the Dean, then drank it and hopped into his 3rd Steel Star, much too soon for anyone else. Obviously, it was not the same poisoned tea gifted by the Life Goddess, but a modified version, containing the Preservation essence of a Stingray core and purified by a torrent of Tribulation Lightning.
"Such a waste...that tea. It even had a perfect balance." the Twin Angel whispered in a disappointed tone.
"What do you mean, Pure One?" the Celestial Dean asked with confusion.
"You could have joined our ranks right now, Fisherman, if you drank that tea instead. It contained just enough Chaos and Order essence to push someone in the 9th Star over and through the realm barrier." the angel explained with an ironic hint.
The news hit the Dean hard, shacking his Dao Heart for a second, before he recovered and smiled. He also knew where the tea came from, and what it took to purify the poison. "I obtained my 9th Star the same way, Pure One. I'm certain the Divine Cook can create more, if gifted enough rare components for his craft. But my realm is also too poor to sustain such an expensive craft."
The angel glanced around, scanning the entire realm in a second, and sighed. "That girl with Poison Dao keeps the Golden Tea branch hidden from the world, and your battle koi almost died recovering that preservation core from the Chaos Sea. I'll ask the medusa, maybe she has something of use in her garden."
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A flutter of wings, and the angel departed, leaving the Dean rather shaken. The Twin Angel seemed rather sane today, and even willing to help. Asking anything from the Sad Medusa wouldn't be easy, not even from one of her peers.
Plus, the Life Goddess kept a Tea branch of the World Tree hidden? Of course, the tea had to come from somewhere, but the Dean suspected an old stash of tea leaves from before the Tree Wars, not fresh leaves. Anyway, what could be hidden from other Steel Realm cultivators would be easily seen by a higher realm.
"Let's visit that woman, Koi. I hear she makes great tea." The Dean spoke with suppressed anger, and flew away with the Demonhunter at his side.
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"What happened? Why is the Dean so angry?" Pef asked rather confused, but the Silent Monk remained silent, meditating with his eyes closed.
Instead, the Bamboo Tree lowered a branch and patted Pef on the head, like he was a small child. A voice that wasn't human touched his mind, and he heard the chorus of insects. 'Angel was here. Found the tea branch.'
Pef glanced at the empty tea cup in his hand, and made the connection as well. Then, a single bamboo leaf lit up with Sword Intent, and a strike hit a hidden beast observing Pef with drool dripping from his mouth.
Our hero turned as the Taotie shook and reverted to a small badger size, while the wound healed in a second. "Master! You created another miracle?" the beast asked and gulped his drool back into his mouth.
"What are you doing here?" Pef asked instead as the Taotie approached and vomited thousands of storage rings at his feet.
"Patrolling the land, as ordered. I only ate the intruders, I swear!" the monster vowed and held a paw up solemnly.
Pef blinked and collected the loot. "So many intruders?" he asked while scanning the contents of the rings for a wealth of crystals, artifacts and even some rare herbs.
"I only caught a few, Master! They are good at running away..." the Taotie complained sadly, since that meant he missed on a feast of cultivators.
"You advanced another Star already? Good job!" Pef congratulated the beast and ruffled his hard fur.
"I'm an entire realm behind you, Master. Preservation Dao is so hard to get..." the Taotie muttered in a pitiful voice, and rolled over such that Pef could scratch his belly too.
"Just keep hunting these bad people, Taotie. You're a Guardian Beast now, a valued member of the Legion. She will reward you for your service, if she's pleased with your diligence. And you are advancing fast anyway." Pef said with a small smile. The Taotie was good at begging for scraps, but with so many eaten intruders, he would also advance rapidly to his 9th Iron Star. Might as well let him work hard for his freedom.
Plus, the glove held a Brigadier rank, thus her orders were absolute for lower ranks. And it sure beat being locked in the Pagoda all day. The Taotie was doing well.
Still, it made sense to be cautious. Pef took out a pair of Steel Thorns and stabbed the Taotie to bind the Steel Artifacts with his blood. "There, you can use my Thorns to hunt faster now. They can follow a target even if they jump dimensions or mask their scent."
The Taotie grinned with murder and made the Thorns spin in the air, then plunged them inside his body. "Oh yeah! Like a better version of that golith Sting that killed you. Let's see how you run from me now, stupid intruders!" the monster said with glee, then ran off, growing larger and larger as he moved away.
The Silent Monk opened one eye to glare at the departing Taotie, then focused on Pef instead. A pair of Concepts flashed, letting Pef know he was still far away from his goal. More Chaos and Order essence, plus attaining 100% in Creation Dao. Not a small goal indeed.
Pef nodded and flew off, roaming the Jade Mountains for a while to collect more precious herbs that only grew here. Tommorow, the Dean was supposed to take him to the Pill Master, a famous Steel Realm Alchemist, renowned for his skills and the huge flock of Nobles begging for pills.
He also revised his old Alchemy knowledge for the occasion, plus a whole library of rare herbs and obscure pill recipes found in the Celestial Library. The glove had managed to become an Iron Alchemist already, but Pef wanted more. A Steel pin on his neck would be nice, right? Perhaps beside a small Steel hammer.