"Like this, Grandpa Tao?" Yue asked with a questioning glance towards her teacher.

The Taotie spared a single disgusted look towards the young woman, before scoffing in contempt. "Passable, I suppose. Then again, weaving time strands is supposed to be difficult, not to mention your cultivation realm is pathetically low."

Yue grunted and continued her work, weaving a time tapestry while carefully balancing her emotions and the newer time skill.

"My husband would call this painting a good beginning in the Dao of Time." she muttered with a longing voice.

The blue-glowing beast nodded to itself, as if in agreement. "Your husband is an idiot, you know that?"

"Mhmm. He is cute though." Yue allowed with a faint smile.

"No, I'm not talking about his intellect or his skills. He is an idiot for wearing that damaged glove. If I could be killed, even I might be afraid of that thing." the Taotie said with almost a shiver.

Yue froze the tapestry and turned towards the other monster. "What do you mean?"

"There have always been people that attempt to create the ultimate weapon. For example, a few Chaos Cycles ago, a famous poisoner master decided to create an ultimate beast, stronger than anything seen before. So he gathered billions of deadly insects, poisonous mollusks, snails and snakes, lizards and frogs, all carrying the deadliest venoms and toxins in the multiverse. And then he placed them all on the same World Ring, among myriads of other species, including several Godbeasts." the badger-like beast said with a toothy smile.

"And, what happened?" she asked, rather curious.

"You could say, he succeeded just before he got eaten by his final creation. People these days speak of the result as the Desolation Beast, or the World Eater, the Devourer of Stars and thousands of similar names. Luckily for the rest of the multiverse, this beast stopped destroying universes and just went to sleep one day. However, even that thing pales in comparison with that glove on your husband's hand." the Taotie disclosed with a warning voice.

"So, the glove is also the result of a grand experiment?" Yue deduced with a frown.

"Indeed it is so. Whatever these silly Xian deities had in mind when they established their Reverse Mirror Universe, it certainly wasn't this. Perhaps they hoped for a savior, someone like Pef, your beloved husband, to climb from the dangers scattered inside and save them from the golith threat. And they might even succeed with that, one day soon." the beast said with a short laugh.

"Really? Pef is that strong?" the indigo-haired woman wondered with a proud voice. Maybe she did make a great choice in a husband then.

"Hah. Not yet, no. But he will. He is becoming, as we speak. When you learn to read the cyan timelines, you will see for yourself. His fate weave is already doubled and almost entangled, one is this mortal weave, that any Dian Realm can sense. And the other is timeless, without beginning and end, much like mine." the Taotie answered with a grave voice.

Yue resumed her homework, again delicately weaving the time tapestry into a new universe, collecting soul bits and strands from the blown up galaxies in the Pearl Sea and fusing them into her first time skill. All around, the Pearl Sea remained frozen, even the new Elder God recruits in the Legion unable to sense their surroundings.

Her fingertips bled and hurt, as time strands cut both ways, but her Tier 5 cultivation insured that any injury was swiftly healed.

"So, what's wrong with the Legion glove? Why is it damaged? Can it be repaired?" she asked as a follow up.

"I'm not sure what is wrong, but I do know who did it. There is a single being strong enough in this multiverse anyway. The Dragon Emperor." her teacher said with a scowl.

Yue nodded to herself as she continued her work. "It all comes down to this prison universe that Pef climbed out from. As for the Dragon Emperor...how strong is he?"

The Taotie hesitated for a minute. "That monster was at the peak of Xian Realm last time I fought him, many Chaos Cycles ago. He is certainly in the Tian Realm by now, seeing the damage it did to that glove."

"What? Tier 9?" Yue exclaimed, and lost her strand. The time tapestry unraveled with a painful rebound.

"Start again, and pay more attention, silly girl! And yes, he must be a Tier 9, even though he never revealed his powers to others." the beast admonished her in a gentle tone.

"But...how is he still here? Aren't Tier 9 supposed to ascend into Heaven?" Yue mused, mostly to herself. It was common knowledge, after all.

"Do you see me going to Heaven, girl? The Great Heavenly Filter makes sure to sift through the trash and only allow the worthy in. Or kick the great sinners back out..." the Taotie muttered with a more aggravated voice.

Yue flashed in unbelieving look at her teacher. "Really?"

"Just shut up and focus on your skill. If you want to keep up with your stupid husband, you need to work ten times as hard. Maybe even more." the beast grumbled and turned its eyes away, as if observing something far away, or perhaps long ago.

Meanwhile, in another universe...

"Three Golden Feather Pheasants, coming up!" the serving girl announced as three heavily embossed trays floated towards Pef's table, filled with expensive spirit meat and various rare herbs.

"Aren't we ordering some wine? The Blooming Flower Pavilion has the best wines in the universe. And a few from other places..." the Legion Saint asked with a greedy tone.

Beside him, Alchemist Rejin snorted in amusement. "We already have the best wine in the universe, Yao Li. Lord Pef here has quite the skill with wine-making."

Sneakily, a flask of heavenly-smelling wine appeared in Pef's hand and he passed it over to his counterpart.

Although Yao Li wasn't even a proper deity, in the Veritas Legion cultivation realm mattered not, compared with the Legion rank. As Yao Li was in command of the Legion for this universe. Which created the current problem, with Pef taking over the Autumn Sect and all their disciples as recruits for the Legion, following a short but victorious war.

As the dancing troupe come onto the stage to perform their renowned routine, Yao Li took a careless gulp from the wine flask and his soul exploded with colours and sights defying understanding. "Good stuff. Even better than that last barrel of wine you left for me." he whispered in a daze.

"This one has the blood of Tier 5 Godbeast in it, plus a much better base and a bit higher Wine Dao skill." Pef admitted with a careless shrug.

All around the pavilion, guests turned their envious eyes towards the three people enjoying such a high-class treatment, and a few even drag the air deeply into their lungs, trying to obtain a bit of enlightenment from the Godwine vapors.

"If I drink this whole bottle, I think I might be ready to ascend..." the Legion Saint spoke with a hopeful voice.

Pef glanced at the Alchemist, and the man nodded back. "Don't drink it all now, my friend. We still have to resolve our predicament." Pef asked in a mild voice.

Yao Li drew back the bottle and shook himself awake, all the sudden alert and a bit wary. The wine bottle vanished into his own Legion glove, and he stood straighter. "I cannot be frightened, Lord Xi. No matter how strong you or this fellow here might be, my standing orders will be obeyed."

Pef sighed and scratched his cheek in deep thought. Sometimes, military discipline was a pain, especially if it worked against him.

"Even some of these dancing girls are at Saint Realm, fellow Commander." Pef pointed out with a thumb towards the flying ballerinas on the stage.

Yao Li grunted as the truth struck him right in his pride.

"Surely, with more of this Tier 5 wine, I could also ascend fast, reach at least Tier 3, right?" he asked in a pleading tone. Tier 3 was already a decent rank, often obtained on the battlefield by the more capable Soldiers.

Pef smiled grandly and poked his own chest. "There are also Universe Ascension Pills, could take you right into the Tier 5. However..."

Yue Li clenched his gloved fist, while his teeth grounded audibly. "And in exchange?"

Pef leaned back and took a long swig from his own Godwine bottle. "We can negotiate, of course."

The Alchemist smiled thinly as these two companions traded over his hard work with the cauldron, bartering lives and souls like bazaar salesmen.