Seated in mid-air, Pef concentrated on the task in hand, namely a red-ruby ring he intended to soul-forge for his mother.

Floating beside him, a little Icefire sprite watched intently as the young boy struggled. Not simply opening a pocket universe with the stone as an anchor, but how the young user was deftly changing and shaping the storage space inside, first by flattening the space into a wide box, then turning it vertical as if creating a long shelf. Still the same volume, but much more practical in depositing longer objects, like spears and bows, or even wooden boards.

Then, once the inner space was molded and locked, Pef continued to decorate and inscribe the ring with an eight-trigram model, while drawing elemental symbols under each trigram.

'See, little Icefire? By adding Air here, we allow Fire the oxygen it needs to burn and for Wood to release oxygen by plants. By adding Lightning here, we allow life, because cells emit currents, while mental processes are carried and consist of electricity. Well, in humans and frogs at least. And lastly, by adding Gravity, we give Earth a stronger role in the universe, both as a generator of gravity and an object of it, as a planet is carried around a sun by the gravity, just as a moon falls around the planet. I think it is quite elegant, as a theory at least.' Pef spoke inward, knowing the larger Icefire was certainly listening.

'The theory needs more work though. Metal and Lightning interact rather strongly, just as Lightning and Fire do, inside stars, because stars are so heavy. My tiny head kinda hurts if I try to comprehend everything at once...maybe the big Icefire can help?' Pef whispered as he slowly landed onto the floor and fell asleep.

If the big Icefire had eyes, it would have stared in horror at the little blonde boy, not because he fainted from exhaustion, but because the insights he spouted were way too deep for a 9-year-old.

Even as a higher tier entity, Icefire had problems comprehending the entire 'theory' created by the small user, having problems modeling some interactions, especially once Gravity came into play. Even for something like it, modelling plasma fluids and electromagnetic forces inside a star were quite hard to do, especially without a modern education into nuclear physics and the theory of gravity.

However, the universe listened as well, and more Stars began to fall over the Holy Son, rapidly raising his cultivation, even as he slept.

Dao insights had a special value anywhere, and by touching eight elements at once, little Pef was granted a rapid increase in cultivation. More so than in a previous life, because the achievement was earned this time, not just Devoured from his kills.

So, when his mother entered the room next morning, she found that she couldn't see through her son's cultivation anymore.

A bit worried, Rena knelt beside the boy and poked his hand. "Little Icefire, you will tell me what's wrong with my boy!" she demanded in a grave voice.

The small azure flame came out and floated around, examining its user for a moment. 'Seed grew. Now tiny sapling.' it revealed in a joyous tone, before sinking back into Pef's dantian.

Rena sighed and carried the boy to his bath, somehow knowing he would want to be clean for today. 'Already at Emperor Realm, dear Heavens.'

She had also grown and became stronger, but the blonde boy was truly a miracle.

And unknown to her, in the Scripture Hall a new inscription had appeared, burned it a stone wall by Icefire itself. An Eight Element trigram, with a dozen lines written below, describing the changes brought into the Daoist Element Wheel by the three new elements.

So Pef had a rather cold awakening in the bath tub, then a hot one as Rena sprayed him again with hot water from a storage ring.

"Mom! Hot water first..." Pef grumbled in a small voice, as he began to notice the changes inside his body, then hearing qi transmissions from the Sect Elders around.

'I wonder how strong I got...last night was a rush, and pretty weird too.' Pef muttered inside.

'Pef weird, agreed.' the little Icefire answered as if teasing him.

"A big Emperor son complaining about a little cold water. What a disappointment. He is not even a doctor." Rena said with a sad headshake, making Pef blink as old memories converged on the same words. Sometimes, the universe had a strange sense of humor.

"Thank you, Holy Mother! Your nurture was crucial in giving me a chance to live and ascend." Pef answered seriously, and bowed his wet blonde head towards Rena.

"Uhm! Much better. Now dress and come to the kitchen. There is someone waiting." his mother spoke in the same serious voice, then walked away gracefully.

Pef just glanced towards the corner and a fragment of a qi transmission identified the visitor. It was the Inner Court Elder, now also ascended into Emperor Realm.

'They need to learn how to encrypt their messages.' Pef mused inward, while spying shameless on everything going on the wire.

However, the large amount of qi transmissions in the open couldn't quite mask a few certain messages shifted and modulated to mask both the sender and the receiver. At least, not to Pef's enhanced senses and memories, now even stronger than before. All kinds of tricks to encrypt and decrypt qi transmission flashed through Pef's mind, as he stored the suspicious message for later. However, the young Pef also doubted these backwards cultivators had devised Fourier transforms or one-time pads to hermetically seal their messages.

'Letters backwards. Easy.' the little Icefire confirmed Pef's suspicions.

'Just find the traitor, little Icefire. I have plenty of mind tricks to play with them.' Pef answered while dressing in clean robes, then hanging his Sect badge on his sash.

'Destination still dangerous' Icefire said in a warning tone.

'I know. I also have perfect recall now.' Pef replied as he hummed a jolly tune from another universe.

It had taken him a bit of work to start filtering old memories into fact and fiction. They often seemed inversed in his mind, but he sadly had to admit the truth. There was no One ring to rule them all, but the Violet monster in the ring was real. And Santa and his infinite toy bag wasn't real either, although another old man with a infinitely big cauldron was.

Sometimes childhood ended in disappointment, and sometimes magic mirrors did exist. Just not everywhere. Pef glanced at the bathroom mirror with a knowing glance, and waved a finger.

"Mirror, Mirror on the wall...I may not be very tall, you see me as I see you...but I'm still prettier than you." the blonde boy rhymed as he left the room, making the Goddess behind the mirror frown.

--------------

'He cannot know. Last time, Pef was also testing me.' Gena Feng muttered as she observed Pef's new life from the Mirror of Samsara.

Around her, the mirror wobbled for a moment, then sent a soft whisper inside the user's soul.

'Fine! But even so, he has to pass the test. As for the Icefire and the Netherworld Lotus, well...he can only pick one' the Mirror Goddess mused inside, while beside her a hundred different selves also leaned into their cloud chairs to monitor the Mirror Realm for other differences.

For if the wing of a butterfly could cause a wind to shift and raze a forest somewhere, slinging a man into a new universe could change the entire Fate.