In the confined depths of the Violet Realm, Lady Lia stared in the face of an ultimate monster.

And although they were both at the exact cultivation limit, the peak of Tier 7, the Taotie was still invulnerable, while she was not.

"I don't understand how my husband could fight you..." she murmured as even the Oracle skill came up with no clever solutions.

The rodent beast lazily extended a claw and effortlessly sliced off her left arm, then began to crunch on it with a thoughtful face. "Your sword skill is too low, and your comprehension of Yin and Yang has just begun. You also lack a decent weapon."

Lia sighed inward. She endured the pain and regrew the lost arm, then summoned the Taoist diagram from her dantian. "I have this thing...but I don't know how to use it." she explained in a calm voice.

The Taotie froze for a second, then gently poked the diagram with the tip of his claw. "Hmmm. This...is an Iron Realm Tao Seal. I haven't seen one like these since...I was still young."

"Is that a Tier 10 Realm?" Lia asked a bit overwhelmed. She expected its origins to be mighty, since it was able to resurrect her with ease, but so much? Even the Taotie was only a Tier 9 beast.

The monster snorted and sat on his belly, staring at the diagram with focused eyes. "The seal is mostly depleted and damaged, and can't break my prison. Too bad." he added with a sad voice.

Lia quickly hid the seal back in her dantian, before the monster changed his mind.

"However, it is also your fate to find it. Study it well and you will find your current problems will disappear." the Taotie said, a bit ominously.

Lia nodded. The Tao seal was a big deal, and will attract problems one day. "I think I understand." she answered with a small bow. She could take a hint, unlike other people. Not every treasure was a lucky find.

"Meditate on that thing, for now. When little Wang is ready, I will come back for you." the Taotie proclaimed while covering the unlucky woman in a Time Acceleration array. Lia sank her consciousness into the seal, and slowly began discerning the hidden layers and realms of the diagram. Very slowly.

Soon enough, sounds of pained screams and flashes of sword qi filled the Violet Realm, as the Taotie resumed training of another unlucky victim.

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In another realm, Pef endured the raging torrents of the Unreal river, submerged over his head.

Every second, another Formation appeared around him, then almost instantly dissolved under the waves of unreality.

Every day, he tried over 80000 arrays and variations of forms, only to discover they could withstand the Unreal for mere moments, then vanished.

But still, the effort wasn't in vain. The glove monitored the effects of the arrays, and the rate at which each improvement and enhancement increased their resistance. Very minutely, of course.

'First year has passed. Your Formation comprehension has increased by an entire percent!' the glove announced one day.

'Sounds good. Failure is the best teacher.' Pef grunted with effort. Knowledge and practice were different things, and sadly his practice with Formations was abysmal. But learning what failed fast or simply instantly was a great teacher.

'The point is to fail less, or at least slower.' the glove added a bit sarcastic.

A few meters away, Vela sat on the edge of the cliff, and playfully dipped her toes into the Unreal river, then back out, using a completely different method.

Sitting beside her, Xie just rested with her legs crossed underneath. She wasn't stupid enough to touch the mind-erasing river, no thank you! She barely had any left, better keep what remained intact.

She then bit into a Pure Lotus Fruit slice, then took a gulp from a bottle of Divine Wine. "You guys are trying too hard..." Xie muttered as she wiped her lips with the sleeve of her coat. She was lucky to receive all sorts of wonderous cultivation aids from her husband or his friends, no need to risk what was left of her sanity.

Vela glanced at her sister-wife with the corner of the eye. "If you reach Tier 6 in two years, I will give you something good to eat." she teased the purple-haired goddess.

Then she splashed a foot into the river, trying to make a wave, but failed again. The Unreal river was amazingly difficult to influence.

Still, jumping over her head into the thing was too dangerous. Vela could sense to constant intense pain her husband endured, and didn't really wish to experience it head on. Small dips were hard enough.

The air waved for a second and another Tier 7 goddess arrived inside the pool, and floated straight towards her mother.

"Godmother, I bring news. Lord Serghoul has broken into the third Star and appeared at the Ghoul Court in the company of a Legion Soldier in the Dian Realm. She has green hair..." Sunny spoke rapidly, while avoiding to look anywhere but at her mother's eyes.

The statue-like goddess in front of her opened her eyes, and smiled gently. "I also reached the eighth Star not long ago. Your best friend helped me." she spoke with faint tinge of amusement, then glanced at the submerged Legion Soldier inside the Unreal torrent.

"C-congratulations, Godmother! But what friend...oh. Him!" Sunny exclaimed in a not very happy voice.

"How have you been, slow poke? Not even a new Star since I last saw you..." a joking voice emerged, as Pef jumped out from the Unreal and sat the divine table without a care, then took out a bottle of Divine Wine.

"Pef? You're not dead?" the Fay Blade Fairy asked in surprise.

Our hero just snorted and took a big gulp from his bottle. "I just formed my fifth Star and need to take a day break. What say you, Blade Fairy, wanna spar a little?" Pef asked while blinking his innocent blue eyes.

"Puff! Damn idiot! You're ten times stronger than me, what do you want to do sparring with a fragile Dian cultivator?" Lady Kalima shouted in outrage.

Sunny glanced between her unusually emotional mother and the blonde man who drank rudely from a wine bottle.

"Wait...are you two?" she asked to make sure.

Pef lazily waved her off. "Kids should not inquire about adult stuff. If you want to experiment, I'm sure Rejin still has a sweet spot for you."

The Fay Godmother sighed inward. Damn moron, always so direct...even if cutting right through the core of the problem.

"What? Really? But he never said anything..." the Blade Fairy whispered, while blushing to her ears.

"You did stab poor Rejin, right in the heart. I guess I can understand a little, although I regularly stab myself in the heart...so perhaps not." Pef added in a wise voice.

Without waiting for permission, the Blade Fairy turned into a beam of light and fled the scene.

"I guess that's one way to settle that matter..." Lady Kalima said in a far-away voice.

Pef just shrugged and scratched his cheek. Problem solved!

"So wanna spar?" he asked in a casual tone.

"No skills?" Kalima asked a bit cautious.

"Of course, duh! I want to stab you with something else..." he explained in a wry tone. Kalima blushed a little, then covered herself in lightning. "You have to catch me first!" she yelled as she ran away.