Pef stood still as his saintly senses analyzed and discerned the profound nature of the divine messenger, that poor being still imprisoned into a cube of ice and qi.

Even though he was a new Saint, and not truly powerful yet, his comprehension of water spirit was rapidly reaching mastery, aided by memory fragments from another life, and his own experiments.

After a dozen divine messengers had died at his hands, the thirteen seemed to be a lucky one. Lucky for Pef, of course, and not for a Tangerine messenger, frozen in saint ice.

Every minute, a pulse of qi flowed through the ice block, and added more data

for our emergent scientist mage.

Amplitude, breadth and depth, frequency and latency, all sorts of information was being extracted and analyzed by Pef. However, a few hours later, Pef opened his eyes and drew a deep breath, his face the definition of defeat.

"Another day, another failure. Cultivating is too damned hard..." he said in sad voice, and stretched his arms above his head.

The sound of ice cracking and the smell of ozone drew Pef's attention, to space towards his right.

A blonde haired woman with strands of blue highlights and a white robe appeared in that place, almost by miracle.

There had been no sign of her presence before, but now it seemed the Ice Saint had been waiting there for many hours.

"I've brought you a present, my stupid friend. Catch!" the woman said in a cold voice, and threw something with her left hand.

Pef intercepted the object with his right hand, and stared at it with some amazement. It was an Ice Sprite, looking like a blue cone of unbreakable ice, and yet the second it touched his hand, it instantly melted and became a water drop tattoo, inside his palm.

"...Errr. Isn't this a NetherFrost rank of your order?" Pef asked a bit confused. His left hand rose to scratch his cheek while he examined the wonder icicle.

"Mn. So it is. Then again, it's something else too. A refined divine strand, to be precise. Two million years of cultivation, in a compact package. A parting gift, in exchange for a future favor." Lady Winter replied in a softer voice, then lit up a fire sprite in her left palm.

He was a bit slow, but still, he was a Saint. Pef drew a sharp breath and lit up his own Ignited rank sprite. Then he clenched his palm into a fist, crushing the Volcanis messenger.

A rush of qi and divine insight coursed through his hand and meridians, reaching his dantian in less than a minute. Ancient knowledge and various heat management techniques reached his mind, upgrading his comprehension by leaps and bounds.

The pain was unbelievable, but still somehow comforting, like biting your own nails. His energy levels rose abruptly, reaching mid levels of sainthood in a short burst.

"Huh, it was always so close, and yet I was too stupid to figure it out. Souls..." he whispered to himself.

"Yes, you are. See you in heaven, idiot." Cellia replied abruptly, crushing her own fire sprite. Her body glowed a bright white light, and pulsed sharp beams of sword intent, piercing the impregnable castle and vanishing into the sky.

A waveform of cold and water qi exploded from her body, and the woman scattered into divine strands, leaving only a pair of leather sandals behind. They were a pair of saintly sandals, and not regular footwear. Pef poked them with his knuckle, and they vanished inside his storage ring.

Almost instantly, a new divine messenger arrived in front of Pef, lacking form or substance, but still radiating cold and sword intent.

It circled Pef body a few times, then condensed into a dagger made of blue ice.

"Happy Ascension Day, cold woman!" the young Saint said, smiling sadly. The dagger spun once, then stabbed itself into his left palm, becoming a tattoo depicting a tiny blue blade.

Pef ignored the new sprite, and instead turned towards the frozen ice cube with a divine messenger still inside.

He knocked lightly on the ice, listening for wails or curses, but the messenger was placed in forced hibernation and wasn't able to reply anyway.

Pef nodded to himself, satisfied with the state of his prisoner, for now. Then his senses expanded further out, searching for a certain green haired boy.

His inner map wasn't that accurate without wearing the glove, but locating his son, Hero, wasn't that much of problem.

'Still chasing after Lady Regia, huh?' he murmured a bit amused.

Regia was a new Fire Tyrant, one raised and nurtured by Hero during the Orange Base siege. One thing led to the other, and now Sovereign Hero was due to return from Vesuvius with a wife. Or beaten black and blue by the Fire Lord, if the offer was rejected and Hero argued back.

Either way, it would be a pleasant weekend.

The next second, the Agate-on-ice castle was left behind, as Pef sped up and flew towards the Monarchy Palace.

His speed doubled again, due to the increase in rank, and blessings of two tier 1 beings.

As he landed in the second courtyard, he passed through the light barrier set up by Monarch Lia.

A beam of solar light flashed from orbit, illuminating him with overcharged solar qi.

The next second, a fairy made of golden light arrived in front of him. The solar domain unfolded and revealed his favorite oracle.

"Pef? What did you do?" the oracle asked in a deceptively gentle tone.

"Why must you treat me like a teenager, always doing foolish things?" Pef asked in a defeated voice, and grabbed his wife in a warm hug.

Lia didn't bother to answer, of course. Even if Pef was now a realm higher than her, without wearing the glove he was easy to read.

"Hero is back, with a wife."she said instead, her eyes glancing towards the new palace wing.

"Black Meridian Pill?" Pef asked, just to make sure.

Lia slapped his head, then turned around, and rubbed her bruised hand while walking slowly towards the entrance.

"Her name is Ardent Regia. And yes, she was expensive..." the oracle said with a tiny smile.

"... One pill, for a daughter-in-law? That's not expensive at all." Pef murmured in a low voice, then sped up again.

Hero was showing Regia around, his gloved hand pointing here and there while the young Sovereign explained what every building around was for.

"... And that wooden shack, is my father's favorite sauna. He rarely uses it though, so we might as well visit it. You'll most definitely like it..." Hero said in a heroic tone, and no ulterior motive.

"Welcome to the Monarchy, Ardent Regia. And while my sauna is available for use, my son neglected to explain the particulars..." Pef added in an amused tone.

"Dad! S-shut up! Don't ruin the surprise!" Hero yelled in a startled voice, making Regia laugh in a melodic voice. Her red hair shook as she laughed, making Hero blush a little.

"Lord Pef...nice to meet you." Lady Regia said in a rather polite tone, towards the Saint father of her husband.

Pef held his palm up, and waited for Hero to throw a high five slap. The glove transferred owners with ease, appearing on Pef's right hand in an instant.

'Oh, you've grown some more, Aspirant! A decade more, and you'll be ready to try the next part.' the glove said hastily.

'Perhaps sooner, my orange glove. Cellia just ascended and left me her sword sprite.' he answered in a thoughtful tone.

'Indeed. Number thirteen and she's already in top ten of local divinities, just behind Artus. Lady Winter must have absorbed her Ice Sprite.' the glove mused while scanning local space, for energy readings and divine strands.

Pef drew his Legion knife and examined the blade. Most cracks and fissures had healed, only a dozen large dents marring the otherwise perfect edge. Not yet a god killer weapon, but it would cut meat and vegetables just fine.

"Come to the kitchen, you two. I'll cook something and listen to your adventures." the saintly cook explained with a faint smile.

Soon, the new daughter to the Xi family got to taste Indigo Blue Water Turtle soup, and salad made with Red Chili Peppers, Black Giant Onions and Violet Cherry Tomatoes, with a side of centipede and soy sauce. She survived, this time.