"Back to the station?" Rejin asked with a dour tone, unimpressed by the constant kissing and groping going on among the newly arrived women and Pef.
"Yeah. We have a lot to catch up." Pef decided with a firm nod.
The Alchemist just turned away and stepped through space, moving the party back in the Shamballa system.
"That's the Mausoleum! It has multiple layers of folded space, each with different realms and environments for every cultivation rank, even beasts. And a few Godbeasts as well, in the Blue Realm." Pef explained eagerly while pointing at the tall pagoda raising into orbit.
"A perfect training environment for us, even for our troops." Lia mused softly, while taking in the sights all around. Her oracle skill was finally free to expand and explore, filling her mind with new information about all the ships and people travelling about, plus the millions of cultivators already living on the space station.
"About that...I may have conquered a universe filled with hexapods and added them to the Legion. And other human recruits as well, but only about a trillion." Pef muttered in a shy voice, while glancing guiltily around.
Lin coughed menacingly, while staring down on Pef with glacial eyes. "Spill it, Pef! Everything!"
"Well. You know me. I was just doing my thing, exploring and learning stuff, when I saw a pretty lady getting attacked by a group of cultivators. One thing led to another..." he answered with a guilty voice.
"So you've married her?" Lin asked in a sweet voice.
Pef just nodded and took out some wine to clear his voice. Then he remembered to share some with the family and friends, and offered each a bottle of Godwine. "Her name is Yue, and used to be a disciple of the Azure Sky sect. We explored the Mausoleum together and got married and she joined the Legion. Anyways, when I came out of the Mausoleum, she was kidnapped by the Shin Admiralty, the six limbed guys."
Aria perked up after sipping the wine. "So you beat up those guys and took her back, right?"
"Well. Eventually yes. But I was only at Tier 4 then and these Shin guys had some Tier 6s among them. I had to ascend fast, then find out where she's been taken, then acquire stronger weapons...and then I went to war. But I won!" Pef proclaimed in a vain tone, while holding up his bottle as a sign of victory.
The Alchemist just sipped his wine in silence while listening to Pef's exploits from his point of view. It certainly wasn't that dramatic or glorious as he made it sound.
Obliterating galaxies with Yin-Yang bombs wasn't something to be proud of either. Especially not just to rescue a woman.
In fact, among the new people at the table, just the reborn devil seemed to approve with Pef's actions, and he wasn't even in the Legion.
"Hold it a second. Ascend fast? How did you do that?" Lord Yamon asked in a curious tone.
The rest of the group nodded as well, except the oracle Lia who just sipped her Godwine with a knowing smile. Her skill was already inferring all of this from a single drop of wine.
"What you're drinking right now, is a Godwine I made with the blood of a Tier 5 Godbeast I found in the Mausoleum. But, not only the fights in there pushed me to the next realm. Turns out, Godbeast organs can be refined into ascension pills. They call them Universe Ascension Pills here, but you need a good alchemist to make them. Lucky we have Lord Rejin here to help." Pef continued with wide gestures and then pointed at the grey-robed Alchemist that sat calmly at the table, almost ignored by everyone.
"Good wine, hubby." Vela said with a soft smile, and a feeling of love and longing poured through the soul link towards Pef.
Everyone else agreed as well, even the Tier 7 Alchemist, who raised his wine bottle in salute.
"I can feel my soul tremble just from a sip of this wine. I don't think those Godbeasts are easy to kill." Lord Yamon said a bit more somber. He could also sense the strength of that beast coursing through his veins, much stronger than him.
"That's true. A normal Tier 5 has no chance against a Godbeast. Most Tier 6s wouldn't stand a chance either. They are simply very hard to injure, much less kill." Pef disclosed with a faint pain in his chest, as he scratched at the former wound from the Godbeast's claw.
The Tier 4 Archdevil frowned as he formed a blade of white-hot fire in his hand. "Would this work? I have just finished the Dao of Fire."
Pef just took out a red feather and held it over the flames. "We can test it. See how long it takes..." he proposed with a wise grin.
As minutes passed and the feather seemed to ignore the flame sword, remaining pristine and unburned, Lord Yamon's face began to change colors, as if draining of blood.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"I would like a feather like that. Should be a great weapon base." Lin murmured as her smith skill began calling to her.
Pef started spreading red feathers to everyone, as they were still in large supply. Thousands of such feathers on a Godbeast after all.
He also gave a dozen more to Rejin, with a small nod. His family would need stronger weapons than mere adamantite swords, while Tier 4 gods couldn't even soulsmith the Godbeast's feathers yet.
Wixtal Xi held the feather in his left hand, while the Word Gun appeared in his right hand, as if checking the room for herself. Then the feather vanished and was replaced with a red bonesword, still glowing faintly from being spoken to by Reason.
"Where can I find a Godbeast like this?" Wixtal asked with a glance towards his son.
"In the Blue Realm entered via a blue portal. And don't advance further, guys. The next realm is only a giant trap maze, while the last realm is a prison for a Devouring Beast that can eat Tier 8s if it's hungry. And it's always hungry." Pef spoke with a more serious tone.
"I won't even bother with the Blue anyways. Not even a thousand of me can damage a Godbeast with feathers like this." Lord Yamon muttered to himself, as sipped more Godwine with a sad face.
Instead, Wixtal rose from his seat and saluted with the red sword. "She says we'll be fine in Blue. I'm going." In a flash, he Blinked away and vanished among the cultivators heading for the entry portals.
Rejin glanced after the man, then turned towards Pef. "That's your father, right? You look quite alike."
"Yes. We also have the same Cutting skill. He'll be fine." Pef answered in a careless voice, while hugging Vela to his side.
"A Legion Captain, huh? Well, I think he'll be a Colonel after he recovers, if I recall how the General does things. And I don't doubt he will ascend, with a Word Gun in hand." The Alchemist said softly, while turning towards Lin and Lia, both sporting the same golden aura, but a higher cultivation realm.
"I'll bring a few Godbeasts with me when I return. More pills and wine should help us recover strength faster." Lin spoke in a firm voice, then Blinked away after a nod towards Rejin.
"That one. We've met before, in my home universe. She used to have long hair...and good smith skills." Rejin mused in a low voice, although audible enough for everyone at the table.
Pef smiled sadly. Immortality did give one plenty of time to meet everyone of great strength, even in a huge multiverse like this.
"Did you meet Lia or Vela before?" Pef asked curious, knowing Vela also wanted to know.
"No. But then again, Legion Soldiers don't live long lives, not even after reaching Dian Realm. Somehow, they always seem to get in trouble, just like your General." the Alchemist
answered with a kind smile.
Pef shrugged and nodded. He also got in lots of trouble, even here in the wide verse. In two years he experienced 2 ascensions and 3 wars, and 2 of those wars he declared himself.
He then turned towards Cellia and measured her for a long minute. " Completed the Dao of Water, finally." he observed with a smirk.
"Shut up, moron! I'm just a village girl, not a Soldier with unfair gifts. It was really hard." Cellia grumbled while storing the precious wine in her storage ring.
Pef just sighed and held out his left hand, making the sword icerune appear as a tattoo, then jump out as a material ice dagger, glinting with sword intent and cold vapors.
"Take it, Cellia. It has grown beside me these years, and should help you understand more."
Cellia bit her lower lip in hesitation, before summoning the ice construct into her own palm. "It's so strong now..." she whispered as the sword sank into her palm and evaporated.
In a minute, her cultivation began to rise abruptly, from the initial stage of Tier 3, past the medium and late stage and stopped at the peak of Tier 3, just a feather away from next ascension.
"...Thank you" she murmured softly as she closed her eyes to meditate.
"No problem, Cellia. You deserve it." Pef whispered to himself, feeling Vela melt into his side, as he glanced toward Lia, then Aria, Yuan and Qin.
Only six of his wives had made it out of the Mirror Universe, only those with a completed Dao. Cellia, Yamon and Wixtal also had completed their first Dao, which was probably the reason they could cross the quarantine area. Beasts and monsters did not cultivate the Dao, so this simple filter made the gate security quite safe.
There were other tests he recalled from the first gate, but they seemed kinda easy, though perhaps not for a creature like the Rock Mind Worm.
"We'll talk tomorrow, Lord Yamon and Rejin. My wives and I need a bit of time." Pef said politely as he gathered his wives and Blinked towards his apartment on the station.They had a lot to catch up after this reunion.