Reason's Words flashed in golden rays, although there weren't as effective as they usually were.

The pyramid still refused to obey, although a 10-meter-wide section transformed into milky-white substance.

Curious, Pef flew towards the possible entrance and poked it gently. 'This is not wise...' he heard the glove admonish him, before the universe vanished and he found himself surrounded by white light.

His senses were obstructed by the white light, and he couldn't sense the glove anymore. He even raised his right hand to check, but the glove was gone.

"You know why I am here." Pef spoke out loud.

A minute of silence passed. "It's not safe for you to leave, Soldier. You're woefully unprepared for the Great War." a voice answered from all around.

"Perhaps not. But I never let danger stop me before." Pef argued in a calm voice.

The construct didn't reply, not with words. The white light shifted, and slowly the fog receded to reveal a city in ruins, burned bodies and dark ash filling the streets.

Then, a low hum and the ground shook, as if something massive was moving through the ruined city.

'Hmm. A test?' Pef wondered as his Water Domain covered him in Ice Armor.

Suddenly the building in front exploded, and a gigantic creature rushed towards him, a dozen pairs of eyes on each side of its triangular body.

Instead of dodging or striking, Pef simply held a palm forward and stopped the creature in its track, judging its Tier by the impact's strength. 'Tier 2?'

The monster split half of its upper body into a giant shark-like mouth and howled. A shockwave of Sound infused qi stuck Pef with immense force, like a focused storm.

Pef sighed and froze the beast in an ice prison, then walked away. A million such Tier 2s creatures might worry him, but probably not.

He kept exploring the ruined city, trying to find clues about its location and history. Eventually he found a stone basement with sturdy doors that had survived the disaster mostly intact, and began searching for more clues.

Crates with supplies, metal weapons, some barrels filled with wine...nothing special.

He kept searching until he found a logbook of some kind, left behind on a shelf. It was written in the old script he had learned from his mother, complex ideograms instead of words and awkward numbers, but legible anyways.

A few minutes later, the details of a small trading warehouse and its business for the year 737 of the Rabbit Era, involving some river barges and the desert dwellers at the end of the river, that sold glass and almonds in exchange for weapons and cloth, became clear. No mention of taxes or some higher authority. Probably a city state?

Pef drew one of the metal swords and examined their construction and durability, finding them quite low-quality and without a trace of qi-shaping.

'Hammer forging...no soul smiths.' he concluded inward.

Sadly his glove was not around to bounce the explanation toward. Anyways, without strong cultivators no country or even no entire planet stood a chance against a single Tier 2 enemy. Even a Saint, like the Rock Worm had proven extraordinarily difficult to defeat for his Monarchy, in their early days.

"An invasion surprising people without qi. Is there a point for this test?" Pef asked out loud.

The ruined town dissolved around Pef, everything returning to its white fog state from before.

"You did not kill the monster. Why not?" the voice asked, a bit different this time. Perhaps curious?

Pef thought for a minute. "I was too strong to kill in self-defense. Nor were there people in danger, not anymore."

The white fog vanished again, replaced by a sea of stars. Straight ahead, a spaceship was fleeing through the void, chased by the same monster.

Beams of focused qi fired from the ship splashed ineffectively onto the beast. The monster once more opened its huge jaws, then froze into a block of ice as Pef intervened.

A second later he Blinked inside the rescued spaceship. Inside the cargo hold, a hundred smaller beasts were mewling and crying, tied with chains to their stalls.

Tauren guards with electrified prods were prodding the captives, while a fat demon was counting jade plates in his luxurious cabin.

Pef smiled and sat beside the demon trader. "Mind if I ask a few questions?"

The demon flinched and pointed at him in surprise. "What are you doing on my ship? And where is your salve collar, human?"

Our hero grinned at the fake conflict imposed by this test. "I have thousands of worlds in this galaxy and a rather good relation with your Archdemon, Arazmodel. He kinda owes me after I killed the old Archdemon." he answered with a faint smile.

The trader blinked in surprise. "Errr. None of the three Archdemons are named Arazmodel..." then his face and body froze as the simulation dispersed once more into white fog.

Pef sighed and slashed his finger to reveal a drop of blood. "At least read my service record."

A gust of wind passed over his hand and the blood vanished, leaving his hand healed. "I see. You have already dealt with that golith sting. I hoped to reveal their incursion into the universe, and make you afraid of what's out there."

"Your task is to protect what's inside, right?" Pef asked in a soft tone.

"You think your single Dao and the Tier 4 you somehow achieved is enough, Soldier? Thousands like you die everyday, and for nothing!" the voice warned him in a higher tone.

Pef nodded and then produced his own Voidswords, held in hand like a fan with a thousand blades. "I don't intend to die out there, Exitus. I have Voidswords and the Voidcutter skill. I think I can help."

"...Perhaps you can, a little. But all those troops gathering for war. They will all die. Probably in the first battle." the voice answered in a sad tone.

"Maybe. But it is their choice, not yours. Anyways, I need to know if there are other intruders than managed to enter this universe. More goliths or godbeasts?" Pef asked while forming an ice chair to sit.

After a while, the voice returned. "I searched but there aren't any outsiders left, right now. All seven intruders have been killed already. You have strong wives." the voice replied with a slightly surprised tone.

"What can you tell me about what's outside? Where does the exit go? What forces in vicinity? Universe tier? Is the Alliance still fighting? What about my Legion?" he asked once he knew the testing was over.

The fog coalesced into a humanoid shape, glowing with inner light. "The Realm Overseer has been notified of your intention to cross the quarantine horizon. As soon as there is a lull in the fight, she will come to receive you. Your Legion will also send someone, if they have anyone available."

Pef mulled over the cautious response, which wasn't of much help. Perhaps if he had the glove to analyze...

Oh well. Nothing to do but wait.

Years later, or perhaps merely hours, another fog figure emerged beside the Exitus guardian.

"... A silver aura? They all were betting it would be a golden one." a slightly amused female voice spoke from the fog.

Pef shrugged and stood up. "Lead the way, lady."

An amused snicker was all he got, then his stomach clenched as the universe spun a thousand times rapidly. Air began flowing in his face.

'We're out. Sit down' his glove said in a satisfied tone.

Pef sat down and opened his eyes. A new universe opened, as the flying boat climbed over the clouds.