As Pef crossed into the Sacred Realm he found himself on the shores of a giant river, not only wide but so impossibly long he couldn't see the source or the end of it.

Just tumultuous grey-brown waters passing by furiously, at tremendous speed.

Then he turned to find himself in a trimmed garden, plants and flowers arranged in neat formations and rows, with a small pagoda in the middle.

And there on a low bench sat a shapely and beautiful woman in pink robes, with long platinum hair, holding a paper fan in front of her chest. "Come, my young friend. Don't worry, your life is not in danger and the pain won't arrive until later." she called out loud, while waving him over.

'Tier 8?' he asked inward, only to receive a silent reply. Pef checked his right hand to find the glove had vanished.

"Please don't steal my things, mighty goddess. I think I've already paid the price, correct?" Pef grumbled in a bitter tone.

The woman stayed silent and immovable, simply waiting for Pef to step closer.

With a disappointment sigh, Pef began walking toward the pagoda, trampling the flowers in the way. The woman's eyes gleamed for a second, but she remained silent even then. Well, it was a petty revenge but he didn't really dare set the garden on fire. He could rebel more subtly.

In a minute, Pef entered the small pagoda and simply sat on the floor, since there weren't any chairs or benches provided for visitors. Then he wiggled his right hand's fingers, to emphasize the lack of a certain glove.

"Your Veritas glove is not a thing, Pef Xi. Perhaps it was one day, long ago. Now it is a sentient being, and much smarter than you. I sent it in a different realm to learn things, and help it become better. As will you while you are here." the goddess spoke with a clear and atonal voice, devoid of normal inflections.

"So, it evolved? Good for it! I mean, I knew it was different, even compared to other Legion gloves I saw..." Pef muttered in an interested tone, while taking out a bottle of Godwine to accompany the discussion.

The Fay goddess nodded in a statue-like manner. "Not evolved, but changed none-the-less. Trauma always causes change, though rarely for the better. I personally never approved of that Mirror Universe plan, although I went along with it to create a common place for the Alliance."

Pef sipped some wine and nodded. "Well, I personally benefited from that project. It saved my life and allowed me to grow to who I am now. It was a bit painful at times..."

A pair of green eyes fixed the young hero in place, while a strand of platinum hair shot and stabbed Pef right into his belly. A puff of green smoke emerged, and Pef felt as if a great pressure was released. He checked the location to notice it was the old golith scar he carried since birth. "About that, I was born with this invisible sting scar...is that normal?"

Another gleam entered the Fay Goddess eyes, as if she was mildly amused but didn't want to show it. "Normal? No. Absolutely the opposite of normal. Sometimes the Mirror of Samsara does unexpected things, for unknown reasons. Sentient artifacts are often like that, acting on strange knowledge or complicated instructions from users long dead. Divine Artifacts like the mirror or the Heavenly Purple Cauldron have existed long before anyone remembers and they'll likely exist long after everyone in the multiverse is dead and forgotten."

Pef mulled over the new knowledge with a frown. Rejin himself was so old he remembered a Tier 8 God that has died long ago. And that spirit badger was likely even older.

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"What about the Mausoleum? Is that also..." he wondered.

The Fay Goddess lifted her fan and covered her mouth for some reason. "I guess I did inflict this pain on myself, talking about Divine Artifacts. Well, the Mausoleum used to be a mere training place, layers of spatial folds that contained training environments for anyone brave enough to enter. At least that's what everyone thought it was, the Seven Colored Pagoda. That is, until the Jade Emperor managed to reach the end and entered the Violet Realm. And he released the Taotie."

Pef smiled grimly, as he deduced the rest. "It was a prison."

"A prison for that monster, and a test for all of us. A test of greed and pride, that we failed and payed the price for. In the end, everyone of strength banded up to fight and imprison the monster once more, and thus it became a Mausoleum for those that died, including the Jade Emperor himself." the goddess answered in the same impassionate voice.

"And now only Tier 5 and lower are allowed to enter." Pef mused to himself, while drinking some wine.

"Hah. Stupidity is not the unique domain of lower realms. Plenty Elder and Dian gods braved the Mausoleum after that. But they never came out." she said in a lower volume.

"That Taotie ate them, huh?" Pef asked rhetorically, as he already knew how strong the thing was.

"Emperor Mu Feng now restricts entry to Universe Realm and lower, to avoid unneeded deaths. Plus it should delay the monster from achieving the next realm, if there's less people to devour. Though lately the Taotie often attacks even Universe Realms and eats their memories." the woman warned him with a meaningful look.

Well, Pef knew something she didn't. The Taotie was not locked inside anymore, and was roaming the universe on his wife's finger.

Or maybe it wasn't, and the spirit projection was merely that. Perhaps the real body was still inside that Violet Realm. And perhaps it already achieved the next realm.

"Anyway. Enough about other monsters. What about my next ascension? What I do in here?" Pef demanded more to the point of his visit.

The Fay Goddess snapped her fan and nodded. "Elder Ream is not that hard to reach, you just need to complete two major Daos, but opposite ones. So, you already have water."

"Oh. I thought I'll have to fight like thousands of Tier 6 beasts. Or maybe eat a pill..." Pef muttered to himself, going after his previous ascensions.

"You already ate a Universe Pill, and quite recently. Most of that energy hasn't yet dissolved into your being. As for fighting, we'll do that too. If you want to fight goliths, you need to become much better. But first, build a proper foundation in the Dao. We might even establish a third Dao if you're high enough in some other domain." the woman concluded in a level voice.

Pef just shrugged. "My Lightning and Sword Dao are both at 65 percent. Cooking and Wine Dao are at 74 percent too."

The woman smiled for the first time. "And you're already better than me, at two things. But no, Sword Dao is not an achievable goal, for now. Lightning though, that sounds interesting. Same as Rejin too." she murmured as her smile faded.

"So we start with fire?" Pef asked to make sure.

The garden burst into flames, engulfing the flowers and all, and a giant blue sun formed around them. "Fire it is. This might hurt a bit..." she added as her palm struck Pef in the chest and pushed him into the fire maelstrom.

As torrents of blue flame cooked Pef alive and he began to scream, the Fay Goddess sighed inward and fanned herself. It couldn't be worse than the next Dao to follow. Lightning hurt much worse, especially for those with impure souls.