The insides of the Mausolem's Violet Realm held only two beings. A rodent-shaped monster with claws that could tear through dimensions, and a tired and weary human, covered in blood and sweat. His own blood.

With a lazy swipe, almost in slow-motion, the Taotie struck Disciple Wong and hurled him into the prison's wall, body broken and flesh tenderized again.

"Trash! After a thousand years you've barely reached the level of a Red Menace golith." the monster growled as he licked the fresh blood from his claw.

Wong groaned as he ingested another healing pill, and used ice as a cast to set his broken limbs into place. Healing wasn't easy. "We have only just begun, old badger. I may be slower than my master, but I can..." he replied in a confident tone.

"Your master is eating goliths now. Fries them with his blue flames and chews them slowly. Spoils the taste if you ask me, but anyways..." the Taotie rumbled as time around them accelerated once more. "One million times acceleration. And know this, little human. By the end of this million years, you will Ascend or die. And then I will eat you."

Wong nodded slowly, a bit grateful for the extra time. He might finish before the million years passed.

He smacked his fists together, producing a giant shockwave that filled the prison. "Let's not waste time then. In a year outside, my master might exterminate all the goliths. All this training would be for nothing!"

The Taotie grinned widely, then spit a blob of acid in Wong's direction, which the Legion Soldier barely dodged at the last moment.

It wasn't that this Wong was bad, in fact, considering his young age and lack of experience he was quite a miracle himself. He just paled in comparison with the other monster.

And the time acceleration was a billion times now, since it was clear more experience was needed to Ascend another Elder God to Immortality.

Clearly, Pef wanted someone strong enough to protect his Veritas Legion after he Ascended to the Middle Heavens, so this young cultivator would need to reach the peak of the Golden Immortal Realm, or even better the next one.

Not that the Silver Immortal Realm was that powerful by itself, but then again this universe was a lowpoint even in the Lower Heavens. Few high-level threats existed in this place, and they would most likely be gone by the time Pef was ready to Ascend.

Idly, the Taotie shrugged off a weak attempt at Cutting from his newest student, which didn't even marked his skin. The young one had a long way to go. Shifting his consciousness mostly to the the ring self, the Taotie grabbed a Blue golith and snacked it alive. Crunchy and filled with corruption...a real gourmet!

His true disciple, Yue yelled in almost despair. "Don't eat my kills, grandpa! You know I always leave the corpses for you..."

Faking a bit, the spirit beast waved a paw in dismissal. "It's your husband's fault. Seeing him eat such a tasty meal, I couldn't help myself. Though I wonder why he feeds the golith eyes to that White Tiger. That's the best part of these goliths."

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Yue sighed as she glanced over to the Haze Gap, where Pef was training with her sister Lara, and her own spirit beast.

"I guess the eyes are softer and easier to chew. The body of the White Tiger is still only in Tier 6 for now." the indigo-haired disciple answered as she opened her hands wide to superimpose her dimensional painting over the next group of goliths.

The shift happened more smoothly now, their targets snared in time before they even realized it. Soon, Yue will be ready to Ascend as well.

As her teacher, it made him proud. Raising a Silver Immortal from nearly nothing in a few decades was an astounding result, even in the Middle Heavens.

Yet, the horrible glove had done the same with Lara, while Pef managed it all by himself, even while dying once in the process.

And he even had the luxury of caretaking for a Godbeast now, feeding it the juicier and most succulent eyes...

Growling, the spirit beast extended his ghostly paws and harvested thousands of golith eyes from their trapped targets.

"Eat them now, while they are fresh!" he urged his disciple, while offering the fresh harvest.

Yue had the gall to make a displeased face, before grabbing a few glowing eyes and eating them.

"Juicy, right?" the Taotie asked proudly.

"Slimy and raw. I guess it's an acquired taste." the woman muttered as her hand grabbed a few more eyes.

The beast just raised an eyebrow. It was obvious the eyes did contain the highest qi concentration, and the effects were also visible with the naked eye.

After a dozen eyes, Yue began glowing as she gained another Star in her cultivation.

However, she didn't stop and continued eating more and more golith eyes, until the Ascension finally arrived.

"Don't worry about the Tribulation, little one. Keep eating." the Taotie urged his disciple.

As purple flashes of lightning fell towards the new Silver Immortal, they slowed to a crawl and formed a giant charged mist, covering the entire entrance into the Breach. Thousands of goliths burned alive inside the Tribulation Cloud, as the spirit beast strained himself to slow time in a wide area.

As they died, their smoking corpses were swiftly collected and Devoured by the Taotie, while their essence fed the Legion cultivation method of his disciple. More waves of goliths rushed inside the Great Realm through the Breach, only to suffer the same fate.

By the time a billion years of accelerated time had passed, his disciple had already climbed 5 Stars in the new cultivation realm. Not yet a match for her husband, if talking about pure strength, but still a decent result.

Clenching a spiritual claw the Taotie gathered the lightning mist into a glowing orb, then ate it slowly, as if enjoying a rare meal.

It tasted like home.