With each sip from the Godwine, Pef felt his powers and insights increase significantly, until the inner screen signaled he had completed the Dao of Wine.

Another self sprang into existence beside his main body, roughly at a tenth of his normal powers, but still able of independent thought.

'I'll take over the new self for now, Soldier. There are some complicated things I need to do' the glove spoke in the same instant, and the awareness of the second self vanished.

Pef shrugged and continued making more wine in his inner world, while outside he took out some of the finished product to share with Rejin.

"Try it, Rejin. I think you may have a pleasant surprise." he offered with a tiny smirk.

Nodding curious, the Alchemist took of gulp from the new wine, then immediately drained the whole wine jug. "This...the wine has reached perfection! I can feel my soul grow, even at my rank."

Pef nodded in agreement. "So you want to learn how to make it? It should also be a part of the Dao of Creation." he argued with a knowing smile.

Rejin hesitated for a moment, then nodded in silence. It was much too big of a boon to pass on.

Just then, Lia rose to her feet and opened her eyes, and a dozen selves sprang into being behind her. "We have more pills Pef?" she asked in a stern tone.

Pef just stepped close and took the woman in his arms, hugging her tightly. "We do. Take these two pills and Ascend Lin and Wixtal. We'll need our Legion guns soon." he demanded in soft voice. With a short nod, Lia took a single step to vanish from the universe, with two Tier 7 pills in hand.

"You seem twice as strong already, kid. Truly, you're growing fast." the Taotie muttered with a deep frown.

Pef simply took out the Heart Ruler and held it out. "How do I raise the rank of the Ruler?" he asked instead.

The spirit beast glanced at the ruler then back at Pef. "Just fight. The more you fight, the stronger it will become."

'Can we fight something strong?' a small voice asked in Pef's mind.

Pef sighed inward then turned towards Rejin. "I have some people I'd like you to carry. Take me in." he asked with holding out a hand.

In an instant, the Pearl Sea around vanished to be replaced by an empty and cold universe. Rejin's Avatar appeared beside Pef, still holding the wine jug.

"You're much too trusting, Soldier. You're now in my power." the Alchemist claimed with a kind smile.

A soft breeze blew in the empty universe, making the Alchemist frown in displeasure. "Ah. The Nine Shades Bamboo..."

Pef smiled as if he had planned this all along. "There are only two power groups in the Great Realm, my friend. The Dragons and the rest. You have to choose."

Another breeze fluttered around Pef, as if to express displeasure, but Pef ignored it.

"You think I don't know this, Soldier? Lady Kalima even sent her Blade Fairy to assist with my own Ascension. And I also owe you and the Taotie a life. I only wanted to refine pills..." Rejin complained in a dejected tone.

"I don't believe you have finished the Dao of Alchemy, my friend. Perhaps you did everything possible in this realm, but the goliths come from Outside. If my small mind is right, there have to be billions of other Great Realms floating around in this Outside sea, each holding unknown wonders and cultivation forms. Which is why there is a Mirror Universe experimenting..." Pef proposed with a curious voice as he retrieved a White Ice-fire Lotus from the real Lacrima and offered it to the Alchemist.

"...This. Where did this come from? I never heard of such a lotus type..." Rejin whispered in confused admiration.

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Straining his power, Pef began to eject entire galaxies into Rejin's empty universe, starting with the his home Tear galaxy. In a few minutes, he had emptied his universe and transferred every singly galaxy into Rejin's inner world.

"...I see. You breached the Mirror somehow and stole an entire universe. Luckily I wasn't a Tian Deity when the Mirror Compact was signed..." the Alchemist mused softly.

"This is the place where I was born, Rejin. It is also something special, with wonderous things imported from elsewhere by the Mirror. Make sure the Ant Queens raise in rank fast, as I will need a big army soon. The Mausoleum will serve nicely to upgrade the Ant Warriors into proper Legion Soldiers." Pef said while taking out a dozen more wine jugs.

"...You're really going into the Gap? Even I don't feel safe at all thinking about that..." the Tier 8 Alchemist muttered with a faint shiver in his voice.

"We travel different paths, my friend. I will fight and grow, while you grow by making things. But I don't want my home realm to suffer if I die stupidly. So, as a honorary Legion Alchemist and Maker, you will safeguard this realm. Deal?" Pef offered while extending his hand.

Rejin blinked slowly, as if thinking deeply. Then, he slowly extended his own hand for a shake.

A second later, Pef knocked on empty air beside him. "It's time to go, old badger. Make a portal already."

As he suspected, a Tier 9 entity's awareness could breach the inner world of a Tier 8 cultivator and a violet portal appeared.

When Pef stepped through the portal, he also took his wife's hand and they appeared beside the Taotie, hand in hand. "I hope you know how to reach this Gap, I have no ideea where it is." he disclosed with a shameless smile.

The Spirit Beast shifted colors into a bright violet, as his gaze turned towards the distant skies. "The Gap is not in this multiverse, kid. It is beyond the Great Realm Barrier, and starts just behind the Breach. You'll see in a moment..." he explained while his eyes turned kind and he measured Yue for a second.

Then everything turned and shifted at speed, until the trio found themselves at the edge of the world, far beyond any known universe or any sign of life.

In front of them, the structure of spacetime and even the entire reality was ruptured, and a giant gash crossed the sky, glowing an ominous red.

The Taotie extended a lazy claw, then brought it back, holding a large golith as if it was a mere toy. "They have guards here. More will come..." the beast explained calmly as it bit into the golith as if taking a bite from an apple.

'Yellow Menace confirmed. Approximate strength, 3 stars Tier 7.' the glove whispered into Pef's mind.

'How many stars in a Tier?' Pef wondered absently while watching the beast munch on the screaming golith.

'As of now, nine stars per Tier, each twice as strong as the former.' the glove added in a warning tone.

A dozen more shadows appeared, converging on the intruders. "Take the ones on the left, Yue." Pef ordered as the Ruler unfolded in his hand.

"Sure thing, hubby. These things seem rather weak." Yue answered with faint amusement, as she opened her hands to create a painting, then stepped into it while also dragging six of the goliths inside.

Pef smiled to himself, glad he had picked a strong wife once more. Then he began launching his own Voidswords and Voidcutters, blasting two of the weaker goliths to death in a few seconds. As the Tribulations began to fall, Pef Blinked closer and released a thousand Avatars and even more clones.

He had come here to fight, and the goliths were nice enough to provide.