Years flew by, and the Monarchy grew back, even stronger than before.

Having saved the smiths and the teachers in protected shelters made rebuilding civilization faster and easier.

New cities and schools, supported by monthly immigration of adventurous people from the Patriarchy,

as well as vigorous population growth which was somewhat based on Pef's example.

Families of ten children, even twenty, began emerging often clustered around a Guardian, both for protection

as well as a higher chance of a qi blessed child.

Visits to the Fertility Spring from the White Continent became a yearly pilgrimage, for the newer Emperors with water spirit.

Cultivation also became easier once the Saint worm was exterminated, without the constant qi drain which the beast had enforced in the past.

The Legion indoctrination method wasn't promoted to everyone anymore, instead being used as an incentive and reward, for the new Guardians

who trained in the Taichi method that Pef had invented for Lady Si.

This new method allowed even young children to cultivate peacefully and then achieve their Nascent Soul before the age of 25, and possibly Emperor rank

later in life.

Also, the Saint continent was now a huge grass plain, due to the forced incineration of all its surface, which forced the locals to become inventive, and use coal and oil as

fuel for heating and industry.

Trees and crops like maize were being planted again, but it would take centuries to rebuild the huge forests.

Still, this also meant most diseases were eliminated at the source, since insects and other carriers were also mostly eliminated.

Monarchs Aria and Yen, along with their daughters, Rose and Lily, were constructing a new ecosystem, importing various plants and animals from other

continents, while Hero and Paragon were fighting on the new front lines.

Various dark cults and beast waves still needed to be fought, on the rest of the planet.

Although the war between the gods had stalled, everyone knew it was only a respite period, for fresh troops to be conscripted.

Still, the Saint was rarely seen anymore, his workings unfathomable and mysterious.

For example, a huge castle made of eternal ice had appeared at the spring of the river Agathe, with walls going kilometers high.

However, access to this castle was restricted to everyone, event the Xi family.

A cloud of snow surrounded this castle's towers, even on the warmest days, while a wide moat of hot, scalding water encircled the ice castle.

As for what was going on inside, only Pef himself knew.

At his moment, he sat cross-legged in mid-air, while his fingers moved slightly here and there, like touching invisible strings.

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"You still too slow, moron! That's the last divine messenger I will catch for you. You better not fail again." the cold woman's voice was heard from behind the Saint.

"Mn, so you said the last twenty times, dear Cellia. Locust is out of messengers anyway. But Harvester still has eleven. I will not rest until they are all dismantled." Pef answered in a soft but clear voice, imbued with certainty.

His Saint senses were growing though, much faster than the Ice Saint's did in her past. He could grapple and constrain even disembodied

divine strands. But he just couldn't refine them.

The last and most crucial tool for a fast ascension was still too hard to grasp. But Pef wasn't deterred. Cultivation was supposed to be hard.

If it was easy, then anyone and everyone could become a god.

If this universe was a Legion base, then other means could be used, from virtual or accelerated training, to more esoteric or

profound methods. If this was a tier 5 universe, skills or just condensing qi would be enough.

But in this sad and isolated universe, Pef had to find another way.

And he did. String after string, and failure after failure.

The nature of water was even easier for someone like him. But the last step was not present in his method.

And so Pef copied the Harvester of Souls, the insane demonic cultivator. Atom or molecules, and quantum strings or qi strands, Pef didn't care.

He kept trying to refine them into his core, using his soul as a hammer.

Cellia left after shaking her head, platinum blonde hair swirling once then vanishing.

'I'm afraid, Artus. What if he never succeeds? Even worse, what if he does?' she whispered to the cold wind, while summoning her arctic sprite to keep herself cool.

"He already did, Lady Winter. But he is too young and a bit of an idiot, and doesn't realize it, not yet. Not until he wears his glove again." Artus answered with his real voice, and yet only making the icicle vibrate slightly.

"But...he can devour souls then? Just like..." the old woman asked with a shiver.

"Can? Yes. Anyone can, after some trials. What did you think your ice sprite is?" the winter god asked rhetorically, then shattered one of her icicles, halving the connection with one of his messengers.

Cellia poked her remaining sprite with wide eyes, while her cultivation climbed and climbed, while the qi stored for a million years returning in her dantian.

After an hour, she reached the peak of Saint rank, and felt the tangible door of Ascension in reach.

Lady Winter stopped in the middle of a icy cloud to think. Meanwhile, her body was transforming, old wounds and scars healing while the body was preparing for ascension.

A day later, she arrived at Etna, and entered the Fire Saint's underground abode, wearing a veil made of cold mists.

"Firali, you're the worst idiot on this planet." she said in a light voice, scaring the poor smith while he was anchoring a delicate formation to a pair of gold rimmed glasses.

The artifact fell on the floor, while the old man turned around in surprise.

"Lady Winter, what...you're young?" he asked, peering through the pair of glasses he was wearing.

"Oh? You can see me?" she wondered a bit amazed. Truly, her moron friend was pretty much the best soul smith of this era.

"Yeah...it's kinda the point of the new glasses. Triple Spirit-metal-cyristalline lensing, with a diffraction fact...and you're a goddess now..." the man muttered in surprise.

Cellia sighed and went to sit at the tea table. An hour later, the Saints finished their tea in silence. Words were sort of unnecessary between them anyway. 

"Give me a fire sprite." she demanded while holding her palms up, and producing a single icicle.

Guotian Ji blinked and held his own palms up, producing two white-hot fire sprites, swirling and dancing for no reason. "I see. Truly, I am the worst idiot on the face of this planet. And I even wear the glasses to prove it." the old Saint replied in a subdued voice.

Slowly, a fire sprite formed in his palm then jumped and landed in the Ice Saint's free palm, and instantly dived and transformed into a tattoo.

"Still, you've been a good friend, idiot. I'll be seeing you." the cold woman whispered, as she rose and walked away with small steps. After a few steps, her shape became blurry, then she vanished.

As the Fire Saint stared into his remaining fire sprite, tears began forming in the corners of his eyes.