"Honored Lord..." Pef heard as someone dared to tug at his sleeve, once more disturbing him from examining new cooking methods.

Swallowing a loud curse, he turned to his side, where a wounded woman, with half of her face peeled off, was clinging to his robes. "I killed those who hurt you, right?" he asked with a frown. She was probably a beauty before she was captured, as her body still had nice curves.

"I don't have anywhere else to go, my family was also killed..." the woman explained, while reluctantly letting go of his sleeve.

Pef sighed inward as he scanned the new random encounter. Her cultivation had been dropped into Earth Realm, making her survival a problem in a world where even babies were born in Emperor Realm. With such an injury and low cultivation, this woman was quite hopeless in this cruel world. "Very well, I'll figure something out for you."

"...really?" she asked in a confused voice.

"For now, just visit my world and rest." Pef decided as he patted the woman lightly on her shoulder and moved her into the care of an Avatar, who was in charge of maintaining the beach house, and that entire universe as well.

"Now, let's see about you, little one. Never properly cultivated, right?" the Avatar asked in a dottering tone, while seating the visitor at a table and offering her some food and drinks.

Nodding hungrily, she began wolfing down everything, and soon crossed into Sky Realm with the infusion of cultivation aids present inside the menu.

The face healed badly though, resulting into a deformed skin-mask growing over the exposed bone. "Thank you my Lord, it stopped hurting now." she said in a low voice, while gently patting her scared face.

"Well, there are two options I can offer you, little one. I could try and make a Healing Pill, and restore your body to your previous look. Or I could induce more pain, and allow you to grow into someone strong, possibly even like me." The Avatar proposed in a kind voice.

Tears began flowing freely on the disfigured face, as the woman relieved some painful moments. "Why more pain?" she asked after a long time.

"This world is very cruel, little one. The Heavens themselves demand incredible pain and suffering to allow someone to progress to great strength, even a sacrifice of flesh and blood. Now, some people abuse this by inflicting pain onto others, while reaping the benefits for themselves. Others choose to suffer themselves, endure the pain and loss and come out stronger in the end." the Avatar explained in a simplistic way. It was far more complex than mere pain transfer, as feeling and emotions were energy too. No matter what channel one used, the results were rather identical.

One could simply tend flowers like the Bee Queen, and emerge as a strong cultivator after countless years. Or they could Devour anything like the Taotie, and come out just as strong, but far quicker.

"I would rather die, than torture people to become strong!" the visitor declared in an absolute tone.

"No need to get this radical, little one. Some people do deserve a great deal of suffering, don't they?" the Avatar asked jokingly.

The woman nodded unconsciouslly. "But you are saying it's better to sacrifice yourself."

"There are degrees of sacrifice. A month of constant pain, like walking with a broken leg...for a few cultivation realms, for example." the Avatar said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Doesn't sound so bad, yeah. I think I could take that." she answered after a minute of thought.

"Or maybe a year, to polish your Dao Heart even more and reach Diety Realm?" the Avatar proposed with a faint smile.

Here, she hesitated far longer. A whole year of suffering was a rather potent deterrent. But still, Deity realm! "If I strain myself, I think I can make it. One year, no more!" she decided with a firm voice. Pef was quite satisfied with her decision.

"I personally went for one and half years, and came out pretty strong for it. It wasn't simply the pain, of course. I also lost half my family to a giant worm monster, and had to endure countless injuries in combat to reach my Bronze Realm." the Avatar added with a tinge of pain in his voice.

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The woman nodded once more, then stopped suddenly. "...Bronze Realm?"

"First step then, I still have a Saint realm pill around...here!" he proclaimed in a faintly amused voice, since he just crafted that pill only now.

He was certain he could even mass-produce Tier 2 pills by now, given a large supply of herbs and cultivation ingredients. The trip through the Creation River had indeed increased his Daos in multiple ways, including Alchemy.

"Saint pill? It should cost a fortune..." the injured woman hesitated, as she picked the glowing pill from the table, and felt its power.

"Made it myself, so not really. But yes, I remember I once bought a True God pill with a whole universe as the price. Alchemy is a rather expensive trade." Pef said via his Avatar, keeping his tone light.

"I am called Si Long, my Lord. Thank you for this gift." she answered as her voice became more confident, then ate the pill with a concentrated look on her face.

'Si Long. The Heavens are toying with me.' Pef grunted inward.

'She cannot be the same soul, Master. The chance for that...' the Icefire argued with a knowing voice.

'Don't even try to tell me the odds, dear Icefire. I already found Lara after we both died, and she should have reached Tier 10 by now. I crossed the Creation River to reach this place, and Lady Si was also a crafter, even if she only made clothes. Do you want to bet what profession this woman has?' Pef said in a sad voice.

'...' With a fast glance at her fingers, the Icefire immediately recognized the tell-tales of a sewing craft, and fell silent.

'Lara was a good user, for me and the glove too. If you haven't returned, we would still be at her side.' the Heart Ruler added as a point.

'The glove never liked Lady Si though. It would be nice to surprise it, with a twist of our own.' Pef said with a conspiring voice.

'Hehe. I wonder if we can raise her to Tier 10 before the glove finds us.' Icefire proposed with a wicked voice.

Pef fell silent as he thought about something. 'Shit. I knew I forgot something. That damned orange glove must have Ascended already. And it has all my stuff!'

'The glove was always the thinker of our group. If it is already here...' the Icefire muttered in a rather terrified tone.

'Oh shit! People will start looking for us soon. Especially if the winged goddess comes out and starts playing as Black Cowl again. Poor Lara had to fight millions of minions, and that was only in the Low Heavens' the Heart Ruler added with a wry laugh.

'We have to play smart. Find a safe place...right! The Celestial Academy.' Pef decided with a hopeful tone.

In a second, Pef slashed space with his Universe splitter and vanished, entering the Sword River to find the fisherman once more.

Running over flowing swords, he followed the river until he reached a large sword-shaped island.

"Senior Brother, I finally found you." he spoke in a respectul voice.

"Ah, look what my hook brought me! My, my, how much you've grown since I last saw you, Little Brother." the young-looking fisherman exclaimed in a surprised tone.

"Oh, that. I found a Primordial Fiend and he detoured me through the Creation River." Pef explained with a grin, as he took out a skull-shaped Prison Seal to prove his words.

Skipping a stage, the fisherman directly turned old and picked up the Seal with cautious movements. "And so you did, little brother. And you were worried about resources..." he spoke as he examined the seal for any leaks.

"I did also somehow conquered the Middle Heavens and gave the Mercy Throne to a friend of mine, the General. I hope she is doing a nice job fixing the place. It was quite a mess, abuse and corruption everywhere..." Pef continued in an excited voice.

"I'll keep this until you finish your studies. I think you'll love the Academy, especially as we have a new teacher, she wears a full suit of Eternium armor." the Celestial Dean said in an easy voice, as he grabbed Pef and flashed-forward before the boy could get lost on the road of life again.