A couple of days later, Rejin opened his Cauldron to extract a batch of 74 Universe Ascension pills, of which three did have a cloud around them, and seven more had three lines on them.

Pef kept a cloud-pill in his inner world once more, just in case. Reaching Tier 5 in a single step would be quite a boon if he were to die again. Not that he wanted to die, but always plan for the worst. And the Nine Shades leaf also enjoyed wrapping around that pill to 'protect' it.

The glove even proposed that the World Tree was using Pef to obtain more insights into Dao and cultivate faster, which was quite likely in hindsight.

The Nine Shades leaf was also becoming something in-between the White Tiger spirit and a soul-bound Artifact, which was a boon for Pef as well.

"Here, this is a three-line Ascension Pill. You will reach Tier 5 with it." Pef offered to his wife Xie.

"I know! Silly sisters kept telling me to focus on cultivating. Pills are the best!" the purple-haired goddess proclaimed heroically as she sat down and gulped the pill without care.

A few minutes later, she opened her eyes once more. "Nothing is happening!" she grumbled.

"It will take hours or days. Just meditate..." Pef whispered as he leaned and kissed her forehead, and sent his Eight Elements Trigram into her mind, along with the formation for the inner screen.

"Hey! This is like cheating! I like it!" Xie shouted as she closed her eyes once more, to try and meditate. Not everyone had the same mentality after all, and Xie was a great example of that.

"Okay, let's move into your world, Lord Rejin. There are some people to see." Pef asked as he offered his hand to the Alchemist and entered his inner world.

With a mere thought, he arrived beside the Elf King, who was still sick and dying. Slowly dying and seated at a wooden desk, signing papers and examining mind stones.

"Hey there, father-in-law. It's me, Pef!" he announced as the Elf King turned his prodigious Mind powers towards him.

The Elf was still only in Tier 4, and quite weak physically, but despite this his Mind was amazingly strong. "You are almost there, young Pef. Your Mind is almost as strong as mine." the Elf King answered after probing Pef's mental defenses, quite brutally.

Pef shook his head and reformed his mental shield, then sat down in front of the Elf King.

"In the outer verse, there is a species much like yours, called the Fay. I want to send you there." he began in a polite tone.

"Yes, I have heard of Misty, your own daughter-in-law. Makes sense she has a place to call home. Why would you send me there?" the Elf King asked in a tired voice.

"For healing. I also have his Tier 5 pill, but it won't be enough. You need an expert to look after you. And Kalima needs an expert to repair her Mind." the blonde son-in-law explained while setting down a purple Universe Pill on the wooden table.

The old man hesitated for a minute, then just took the pill and ingested it. It wasn't like he could refuse a free ascension.

"Make sure my planet and people stay safe." the King requested after the Ascension was finished.

"I have a Tier 8 friend holding this entire universe in his inner realms. Can't get much safer than this." Pef assured the man before Rejin sent him away towards the Fay Realms.

Pef stepped once more, still in the same galaxy and arrived beside Arazmodel, his old demon friend.

"You are?" the Archdemon asked carefully, as he instantly discovered the blonde man in front of him was so much stronger.

"Come now, my old friend. I'm still Pef, even though I've died and got reborn in a new body." he said in a joking tone, as he began pouring some Divine Wine for his friend, and himself.

"Yes, I sense the truth in your words. So this is why I felt the old Elf King become so strong before he vanished." the Archdemon murmured as he took a small sip from the enticing wine. His eyes opened wide as he realized the potency of this new wine.

"So, I have a task for you, should you choose to accept it." Pef offered while placing a purple pill beside a jug of Divine wine on the Archdemon's table.

Arazmodel poked the pill for a second before nodding wordlessly. It didn't take an expert to realize what the pill was, after all.

"I need an insider in the Ghoul Realms. Your Truth Skill will be very valuable to the Serghoul, and you will deliver another Universe Pill like this to his daughter, Dalia. Find out who conspires against her." Pef proposed while taking a sip from his own wine glass.

"... It's not really a choice, is it?" the Archdemon muttered in a low tone.

"The Serghoul is a Tier 8 God, my friend. He will also repay you for your aid, especially if you explain you're my friend." Pef said simply, and just waited.

Also true, there was a pretty small choice of destination for a demon in the outer verse. The ghouls will not bother to discriminate against him, as they were already considered pariah among the civilized realms. Using Death and necromancy tended to do that.

"It will be dangerous. If a powerful cultivator like this Tier 8 Serghoul cannot solve inner dissent..." the Archdemon mused to himself.

"Yes, but you were not always strong and are used to your own race's inner problems. Plus, you will not be defenseless." Pef added as he touched the Archdemon's forehead and imparted a set of Skills, including his Armor and more subterfuge tools.

"So, do I take this pill now?" the demon asked as he palmed the Universe Pill.

"I think it is better you take it in front of the Serghoul. He wouldn't be too confident in the pill otherwise." Pef explained as he deposited another Universe Pill on the table, destined for his own former patient in the ghoul realms.

"All true. You have become wiser, Legion Soldier. Was it your death?" the Archdemon asked with a smile.

"Probably. I fought the leader of the goliths, and I died. Hualitep was quite strong too, with an unbreakable defense." Pef said with a shrug.

"Hah. You know I can sense those tiny white lies, Lord Pef. That defense wasn't so unbreakable once you struck him hard enough." the Archdemon chuckled as he drank from his wine glass. He could already feel his cultivation grow again, just from this amazing wine.

"True. But there are consequences, if you hit too hard." Pef nodded as he drank the last of his wine. He then turned his head and spoke at the air. "Lord Rejin, if you would be so kind to deliver Arazmodel at the Serghoul court."

One of Rejin's selves appeared from nowhere and nodded. "It won't be a problem, Lord Pef. Though, a new Fiend among the ghouls will create ripples..." the Alchemist advised him in his own restrained way.

Pef just stepped away and arrived on Ardania, beside Gaia and Arden. Seeing their golden auras lifted his spirit, since reborn cultivators were few and far between. Friends were even rarer though.

"How are things, my friends?" he asked in a pleasant tone.

"... Pef?" Gaia asked with a nervous voice.

"Yeah...new body, you like it?" Pef asked with mirth, as he spun around to be examined.

"Pef! Don't tell me you managed to die already." Arden yelled and jumped to hug his old friend.

"Details...So anyways, I went to visit your old realms, and the Serghoul. Nice guy." Pef said in a careless voice, as he patted Arden's back.

"Tell me everything! I'll have a meal prepared for you." Arden demanded as he sent orders to his court to prepare a feast.

"See, there was a big and powerful golith leader..." Pef began to explain, as he sat down with Arden and took out some wine.

Gaia just sat quietly at their side to listen, and simply watched her husband exclaim in joy or outrage at Pef's adventures. It seemed in the end her gamble did pay off, with the young Legion Soldier.

From an orphan ridding a hot air balloon over the forests of Lacrima, to a incredibly powerful god able to cheat even death, Pef seemed capable of doing anything.

And he still came back for her and his old friend.