As Pef and his two lady companions were returning from their fruitful expedition into the depths of the criminal underworld, his senses picked up a poorly hidden spatial disturbance right in their way. Not a coincidence, at all, Pef thought instantly.

"Stand back, ladies. You can come out!" he spoke in a clear voice, as he drew out his Heart Ruler and stepped forward to confront the ambusher.

"Not bad...but simply noticing me does not mean you will live." a person shrouded in water scales replied as the space twisted.

A simple cut from Pef's sword was the only answer. Direct and forward, and pretty much deadly to anyone at Tier 8 or lower, like any student of the Academy that might have a reason to ambush him.

"Hmph. Weak!" the person exclaimed in disgust, as he blocked the cut with a careless palm.

A fraction of second later, a water spike pierced through Pef's adamantine breastplate and exploded through the back, leaving a melon-sized hole in its wake. The armor was the least important part though, as Pef's body was already in the 7th layer of body cultivation. Nothing below a peak Tier 10 could damage him, and even then, not so easily.

"Shit, you're quite strong!" Pef exclaimed in surprised voice, as he began layering defensive formations around his body, while pushing his regeneration to full at the same time. A thousand selves were instantly purposed to combat duties, everything from battlefield awareness to internal circulation and body repair.

"Quite strong? I'm already amazed you're not dead!" the person commented wryly, as hundreds of similar water spikes struck Pef's defensive arrays, somehow managing to rupture most of them and even hit Pef's body a couple of times more, ripping big chunks of flesh and exploding the poor adamantine armor to scraps.

Pef grit his teeth and spread out a dozen Avatars to strike with Void Cutters at the attacker, while he was busy healing and restoring the defense arrays.

With the same ease as before, the scaled enemy blocked the Void Cutters without even a hint of damage. "Damn!" Pef grunted as he began escalating to the next level.

"Just so, weak boy! I really can't see why the Dean even bothered to bring such trash into the Higher Heavens..." the scaled person answered in a dismissive tone, just as a pair of Dimensional Strikes hit him at neck and waist level, barely making the water scales ripple minutely.

A pair of water scales flew away from the attacker and struck Pef though his defense arrays. Pef managed to block the neck strike with the Heart Ruler, but the other scale hit his waist, almost cutting him in two, even as the Preservation Array emerged in full.

'Definitely not a Tier 10 then.' Pef's self in charge of battlefield awareness inferred, escalating the threat level once more.

"Pef!" he heard Lady Gia shout in despair, before her companion forcefully dragged her away and ran to towards the Academy.

'There's something strange here. We are inside the Celestial City, surely they would notice...' another self deduced in a split second as Pef launched his final and most powerful attack, the Sword Soul strike.

"Oh?" the scaly attacker whispered, in a more curious than afraid tone. The Sword Soul should have passed right through anything, yet when hitting the water scale it began to slow down, until came to a stop, while producing more ripples onto the scale.

"What the hell? My Sword Soul can cut even Eternium!" Pef muttered in astonishment.

"Could it? Even if your enemy also has a Sword Soul?" the attacker answered in a derisive voice.

Noticing the shift in the situation, Pef stored his sword, and resumed a relaxed position. "I wouldn't know. But seeing as the Academy is not getting involved here, you're probably not an enemy." he said in a confident tone.

"Your sword style is really trash. And that poor excuse for a Sword Soul is a stain for anyone who follows the Dao of Sword." the person covered in water scales explained in disgusted voice, then turned towards the Academy.

Emerging from space without a ripple, the Celestial Dean appeared at the side of the attacker and simply glanced at him with a frown.

"I said in 3 months! Not 3 hours. What do you want now, Demonhunter?"

"You said you found a good disciple. He's not good at all. I even had to be gentle as to not break his crappy sword." the scaled person grumbled in a displeased voice.

The Celestial Dean winced, as he was the one to fortify the Heart Ruler, as to withstand normal Iron Realm attacks. Steel Realm hits were something else though. "The sword will get fixed, I spoke with the Elf." he replied in a calm tone, managing to please the guest somehow.

Pef sighed, finding himself as an object of interest of powerful beings that could break him into small bits, if they weren't gentle. "Lord Demonhunter, I will get better. However, I think I did alright for my age. If you hang around, you're invited to my 47th birthday next week. I can cook quite well"

The Celestial Dean glared at his uninvited guest once more, then vanished.

The scaled person stepped closer and scanned Pef from head to toe, then shook his head. "I'll return in 6 days with some ingredients, Divine Cook. You better cook at least decently, not like you fight." he answered in a softer voice, then vanished as well.

Pef sighed again, wishing he had a trusted glove to complain to. He was the best cook in the world!

---------

Inside the Steelsmith workshop, the Eternium Knight sat beside Lady Kalima as she poured tea for her new Master.

"Things will get interesting soon, I hear." the Elf smith spoke in a level voice, eying the armored girl with distrust. She again used the visit as an opportunity to craft some things inside her body while the Creation River flew around, and somehow managing to keep the details hidden.

"I would guess the most impact will be in the Phoenix and Jade House for the near future." the glove answered with a light voice, and not guessing at all. She planned things to the last decimal as to fall where they should.

"Hmm. I don't care about those. I want to see the boy." the Steelsmith demanded in a gruff voice. He had not forgotten the amazing formations imbued into his cookie.

The glove goddess smiled under her helmet. "Sure, if you can pry him away from Lord Demonhunter, you can see him right now."

The Steelsmith frowned, sensing something amiss. That old monster was supposed to butcher his merry way in the Chaos Sea right now. The armored girl must be bluffing, thinking herself hidden by the Heart Mirror she stole from the Phoenix.

Pinching his fingers, he tracked the boy and...bounced away from a familiar water scale covering the fate trail.

"Master! Are you alright?" Kalima asked in a worried voice, as the Elf smith paled and had to forcefully swallow his blood. He waved a hand to show he was mostly fine.

"Well, I must be going. Kids to teach and all that. I'll be back with the last sword soon." the Eternium Knight explained in a polite voice, then walked out and flew away, hiding her new Tier 11 wings with a glow of sword Qi.