Pef bonked the young fop again, a centimeter left from the next contusion.

Poor Master Wong's head was a mess of pulsing volcanos, and each time he yelled and tried to counter with his sword, Pef tapped his head lightly with a stick.

"Aaahh, it hurts! It hurts too much!" the young man cried, crushing to his knees.

Pef examined the failure of a swordsman with calm eyes.

"What if you were stronger? Say, a thousand times stronger? What would you do then?" Pef asked in a fake whisper.

"I would...beat you up! Nobody hits this young master!" the scion of House Wong muttered in between tears.

"Would you use a stick?" Pef asked curious. Wong had kept his cool and didn't threaten terminal penalties, like death or worse. It was already something great. Now...

Master Wong blinked confused, his eyes going from his sword to the Alchemist's stick.

His hand unclenched from his sword, and he wiped his tears in an almost dignified manner.

"This young master has made a fool of himself, my lord. He will not use a sword again, unless a stick is not enough." the man declared proudly, making his guards look at one another in confusion.

Pef nodded wisely. Grandstanding for now, but in time, it could become the truth. Wong just needed to be trained.

"All right. Run a hundred times around my house. If you succeed, you get to eat today. If not..." Pef ordered with a handwave.

The man looked at his guards, hoping for a rescue, but nobody wanted to be hit by that stick.

Young Master Wong started running, something no self respecting noble would ever do.

Meanwhile, Pef began arranging a barbeque site in the garden, and began cooking various types of meats.

HIs employees lined up with wooden tray to be fed the strangely looking meals, like spider legs and snakes or snails, but that soon passed when they too the first bite.

Magical beasts were infused with qi, and tasted much better than farm animals. Add a few condiments and it became a 5 star gourmet, especially as Pef used cooking as Practice, transmuting regular food into divine ranked nutrition.

Well, not yet, but that was the purpose. Pef knew it worked, as an acupuncture point unsealed from simply equalizing the temperature of his copper tray.

Constant heat radiation was a prerequisite of perfect cooking, and the Heavens rewarded the effort.

Two hours later, the famished Wong Leader arrived at the barbeque, having ran the 400 meters perimeter of the house a hundred times. Yep, a 40 kilometers marathon, in your backyard.

He was drenched in sweat and barely breathing, but the prospect of a divine meal kept him going.

"Sit down, Master Wong. Drink some tea, and relax for a bit. Your special dinner is getting cooked right now" Pef explained with a kind smile.

Pef wanted to test a hundred types of insects, but was a bit worried about toxicity. Luckily his new ward wouldn't be aware of any danger, thus more aptly appreciate the taste.

And so, a large tray with 1000 insects of a 100 species was placed in front of the famished Wong Leader.

"Try them all young master. Let me know which ones you will like me to prepare for you tomorrow" Pef spoke gently inviting the famished marathonist to feast.

'Aspirant, I believe you should have been the one to test them'

'Ah, but I also have to act as a trainer for the new recruits. As the higher rank, I need to supervise and eventually revive fallen recruits'

The young man looked at the crispy insects in horror. His stomach growled and the appetizing smells convinced him to try one. To the horror of onlookers, the young master wolfed down everything, except nine cockroaches with long legs.

"Master Xi, everything was delicious. Except this ones. They are bitter and still moving" the Wong Leader explained, poking a crisped cockroach which scrambled away, ignoring its burns.

'Ice Spring burrowing roaches. We had a few thousands from the banchize, encased in the ice you collected' the glove explained with a snicker.

Pef picked one up and bit gently into it. A strong qi burst in his mouth, infused with ice essence and some bitter taste.

'Not exactly bad, but not well prepared either. I think these types need to be marinated in salt' our heroic cook mused to himself.

Pef collected the culprits and made them vanish.

"Correct Master Wong. Ice Spring roaches are best prepared in salt baths, not with heat. Dismissed for today. See you early tomorrow" Pef proclaimed in a mystical tone, making all the watchers amazed with awe.

The young master walked away with his head proud, not sure exactly what he won. His guards escorted him with proud backs, amazed how their leader was becoming a real man.

'For a Core rank, the boy seems kinda weak' the glove commented in its usual manner.

'A week of training more, and he'll be like me, at 9 years old'

'That's what I said. Kinda weak.' it jabbed with a mocking tone.

Pef ignored the jabs, and gathered his employees around. "Men. You were hired under false pretenses. I don't need guards or cooks. I think I can cook well enough, and there's nobody on this continent stronger than me. You are here to become smiths and engineers. This place is a school, and you will be the first class" Pef explained to his employees, while gesturing to encompass the mansion.

They watched in silence, not really understanding. Who would bother to hire people, to study?

"Today's first lesson is buoyancy. You all saw ships on the sea, right?" Pef continued while producing a wooden bathtub filled with ice, and added water. The ice block remained floating, awing the students.

The lessons continued for a month, and the new students started to become more experienced. Mathematics and engineering, the basis of ki cultivation, history and geography. And lastly, law and warfare.

Soon, they began physical training, running around the house, if only 10 times.

The second month, the new Sea Guards began patrolling the city again, as they should.

By the third month, House Yu fell, during a strange outburst of public violence. Their mines and other assets were entrusted to Alchemist Xi, and put to use to extract and smelt more copper.

The Yu's slaves were sent to the shipyards, as rowers and sailmen, some of them even becoming free again, if the Magistrate found them wrongfully enslaved.

On the fourth month, four new white auras were crying in pain, awakening in the basement under Alchemist's Xi house.

And just as they emerged, now stronger and less susceptible to illness and pain, a caravan from Yellow Tear was observed approaching the city.

Pef disguised himself as a trader, and went to inspect the incoming caravan.

"This is the Tang Sect caravan. Step aside or you'll be made to suffer!" an older man proclaimed as Pef blocked the way.

Pef scanned him, noting the old man to be at Spirit Rank, and equipped with Earth rank armor. Spider chitin, more precisely.

His companions were normal guards, except a weird guy in the back, dressed in a robe and petting a palm size tarantula.

'That spider. It's Earth rank...' the glove managed to disclose, before Pef exploded into violence.

Daggers flew from his gloved hand like darts, while his left hand shot soul spike after soul spike at higher targets.

People screamed and died, while in the back, the spider began growing, its legs each 5 meters long and the torso at least 10 meters.

Pef charged, splitting open the old Spirit sage with his axe, then rolled to the right, as a spiked leg poked the land where he had stood. The spider's head swiveled around to follow the prey.

'It's a walking tank!' he exclaimed in surprise.

A jet of stick web shot from beneath the spider, forcing Pef to jump high in the air.

His Sky rank lance appeared and he aimed his fall to pierce through the huge spider.

But, he missed! The spider reverted to its palm size and began running away at speed.

Pef had no other choice. He drew out his bow, aimed for a second then fired.

As expected, the arrow missed the small spider. But not its controller, the robed guy in the back.

That one crashed to the ground, blood spurting from his neck.

The spider stopped for a few seconds in confusion, just enough for Pef to run up and split it with a dagger, and nail it to the ground.

'Check the cargo, Aspirant. You'll like it. A lot' the glove said in a gleeful tone.

As Pef began checking crates on the burden animals and the few carts, his smile became wider and wider.

Zinc! Also gold ore which was usually cut into florins. But most importantly zinc ore. Tons of it.

Pef then swiftly looted all the cargo and artifacts, butchered the animals then burned all the bodies on a huge pyre.

He had struck a first strike against the Tang Sect, for no other reason than travelling with a Disciple of Arachne.

'What if the Tang are innocent?' he asked himself while scratching his cheek.

'It would be sad and pointless. But you don't actually believe it so.'

'No. Just like Elder Wong, this guy wore a spider breastplate.'

'Now hide. There will be divine watchers coming.'

Pef ran and hid in the nearby river, using long pipe-like reeds to draw new air, through his shield.

He stayed for a week underwater, hid by running water and cold water, having left nearly no tracks to be followed.

'Visual, audio, smells and infrared, all covered.'

'It will work a few times. But if a higher rank enemy uses gravitational senses, it would still find you.'

Pef nodded with a shrug. Couldn't do anything about it for now.

'How long till my next rank?'

'Still 77 percent to go. More Practice, more combat, more love.' the glove advised in a flat tone.

Pef sighed as he swam out of the river. Cultivation was so hard!

He returned to the mansion, and began experimenting with brass. Copper and zinc are used for brass. Six months after Pef first entered Port Li, he decided to visit the Diu family.

He hadn't forgotten the beauty he met the first day. It just hasn't been a good time yet.

"So, you're going to marry that Diu lady?" Lady Si asked while stretching her body, now a deal more toned and shapely. Her chest jingled magically.

Pef ogled her for a few seconds, while his senses scanned the soul inside. Peak Practitioner, and half a step into Core rank.

The seamstress could only last a week under Awakening, but it would serve her well anyway. She would never fight gods, but at least for a few millenia, she would live a healthy life.

"Most likely, yes. Miss Diu can become a Saint rank, under my wing. All the Guardians that I train can. Some of them will step into divinity as well." he explained seriously.

"How sad, I can't compete with a rich and beautiful mistress. You'll forget about me..." Si complained while bending her torso up and down, in a teasing mockery of Legion stretch training.

'I doubt you'll ever let me...' Pef mused while he dressed himself up. "Enough posturing, beloved wife. Go and run the rounds, then collect the maize and feed the students. I'll be back by noon, for the brass crafting lessons" he ordered in a gentle voice, then walked out of the bedroom.

He looked around, as his students were also waking up and preparing to go outside for their daily runs.

"Master Xi, good morning!"

"Ah, I'm hungry already!"

"More running, my feet will fall..."

Pef ignored the chatter, his vector set for today. He reached the gate, where his new Guardians were changing guard, the night shift getting relieved.

"Any trouble?"

"Not tonight, Master Xi. Thieves now walk two streets away, after the last group was sent to the mines"

"Keep vigilant. Don't rest just from beating up normal people" Pef demanded as he walked into the stone square.

Soon the first batch of recruits will reach Nascent Soul. And trouble will follow.

'The target will only get bigger. So many juicy souls will attract the Disciples.'

'Well, I can't find them otherwise. Their temple is likely masked or cloaked somehow.'

'Possibly deep underground, or under a formation.'

Pef made his way towards the Diu mansion, now looking a bit in disrepair, and barely having a dozen guards.

"Announce me, if you please." he asked the first guard in sight.

"Ahhh. Of course, Master Xi..." the man stuttered then ran away.

A few minutes later, the guard returned and gestured for him to enter.

"What's wrong? You seem out of breath..."

"R-running is too hard..." the guard muttered in between gasps of breath.

'It is? I like running.' Pef mused inward.

'You were running around my maize garden even before you got inducted. Something was wrong with you, even as a child.'

Pef sighed as he noticed the glove had become nagging. Soon, the Diu family rushed to the gate, bowing politely. Pef nodded back.

"Trader Diu, Miss Diu. Well met." Pef spoke firmly, checking out their house. Stripped bare, with barely any furniture or valuables remaining. "Come in, come in. Di go make some tea." the father said in a hurried tone.

After some 30 minutes of polite chat, Trader Diu took heart and asked . "You came to take over our assets, Alchemist Xi?"

Pef ignored the paranoid merchant, his eyes focused on the woman. She wasn't wearing any expensive white cloth robes anymore.

"The city is back under the rule of law, Master Diu. You must have noticed no more ships had sunk lately..."

Master Diu grimaced. "I only have one ship remaining. While the young Wong Leader has twelve ships now, built by your people."

Pef nodded. "Correct. I will offer you the same deal as I did to the Wong family . Twelve new ships, in exchange for your child."

"That's...what is that?" Miss Diu asked confused and then blushing as her eyes met Pef's.

"That, is a marriage offer, Miss Diu." Pef explained while turning to admire their rock garden from the open shutters. 'I should invent glass panes one day. It's only hot sand' he mused inward, while his eyes followed the artful sand lines in the garden.

'Of course you would...' the glove mumbled in desperation.

"Lord. Y-you...you could have anyone. Why me?" the woman asked while her father stepped back a little.

"White aura, Miss Di. It's needed to become a Saint rank. Well, that and the Xi cultivation method" Pef said softly, while his gaze scanned the room. The father was also a Core rank, but his aura was dark green.

"Saint...is that even possible? We don't even have Sky or Earth ranks on the continent..." Merchant Diu interjected, a bit outraged.

Pef nodded in agreement and smiled. "Well. That's almost true. Qi is scarce here, and Sky ranks will be hard to achieve. But after that, one can travel the world freely, and find a spot with strong qi, and simply cultivate."

"You mean, crossing the ocean? All ships that have tried have vanished." the man whispered in disbelief.

"Not all ships. Airships, they fly above dangerous waves and sharks. I flew a thousand kilometers out over the ocean, once." Pef explained with a gentle smile.

"Are you really 600 years old, as they say? You seem about 17 to me..." the daughter asked with some ulterior purpose.

"Pef Xi, 17 years old, Earth rank." he introduced himself with a short bow and a pulse of Earth ranked qi.

"That's...unbelievable!"

"Impossible!" the trader exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Seems far fetched, right?" Pef said in a sad tone.

The father and daughter hugged together, observing the monster in their living room.

"If that were possible, there would be proof, right?" the trader wondered with shrewd eyes.

"Of course. Measurable increase in strength, speed, durability, magic power..." Pef said while calling out his water shield.

"And this qi method... it works for anyone? Are there other people that you trained to use it?" Miss Diu asked, now a bit more convinced.

"Of course. There's two more Earth ranks in Lacrimosa City. Maybe three, if Chief Quing kept training hard."

"Well, it's your decision, my daughter. You won't lose anything, if you try..." the father whispered covertly, not quite pushing her into marriage.

"My reputation and my life, plus my body...ehem. Master Xi seems a decent fellow, and quite rich. And I could afford a real wardrobe..." the woman mused aloud, balancing ups and downs while measuring Pef with her eyes.

"Excellent! I will treat you both to breakfast, since I like to cook. To the kitchen!" Pef proclaimed heroically and chose a random nearby door.

"That's my bedroom..." the woman said with a blush.

"Okay then. I'll escort you, fair lady." Pef replied with his own blush, then offered his elbow politely. Soon, they navigated the corridors to a wide kitchen.

Pef forgot the copper bowls and a set of Nascent knives as he left, having fed the Diu family a gourmet course of porridge and bacon from a Core rank wooly pig.

The Tang caravan pigs served a dual purpose now, conquering the hearts of maidens, through their stomach.

By the next month, the arrangements were made, the shipbuilding industry got an order for twelve more ships, and the Legion a potential new recruit.

Of course, this got helped by news from Lacrimosa City, of a wedding between Chief Quing and Wind Mage Zian, after which the Guardian had revealed his new Earth rank.

Pef began constructing a Spirit ranked airship, three times larger and able to carry 10 people.

And, after months of intense and hard cultivation, Si Xi also crossed the peak into Core rank, a hundred years ahead of normal schedule.

Things were looking great for the Saint continent.

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

Somehwere in the low heavens around Lacrima, a shadow folded itself and translated back to its source, a hidden goddess who shall not be named.

"Mistresssss. The Xi child is building an army on the Saint continent."

"Is he now? An army of airships made of snake skins?" the goddess asked amused.

"The boy issssss silly, yes. But our asset might come under attack, in the next decade."

"Hmpf. There's not enough qi there for him to advance to Sky rank. Nevermind the boy. What have you learned of Gaia?"

"She is indeed allied with Volcanis. Their followers muster to attack the Red Dew continent."

"Very well. I foresaw this. I will show them war!" the goddess proclaimed boldly.

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

The day after the wedding, Pef called both women for the talk.

"My lovely wives, I plan to head north, and search for clues about missing cultivators. You will not be safe in Port Li anymore"

"And we're not strong enough to come with you..." Si realized with a sigh.

"Not yet. Lady Di, once you step into Nascent Soul, you risk getting attacked like Miss Fang, and have your Core shattered. I would prefer you head towards Lacrimosa and then Smithtown. Lady Lin is an Earth rank smith, and she can look after you, while you awaken again." Pef said while hugging her thin waist.

"Oh, is she another wife of yours, exalted alchemist?" the new wife asked in fake outrage.

"Exactly. She's a wonderful woman and very kind. Now, there's two ways to travel. By ship or by airship. I can gift you my spare airship and teach you to fly it. It's quite easy, especially as there's two of you to rotate at the rudders"

"Flying through the air, it seems like a dream..."

"Actually, it's a bit windy and shaky. But the wind also pushes the airship, like the sea ships" he explained with a shrug.

"Well...We can try it. Then we shall see how easy it is..." Lady Si said in a thoughtful voice.

An hour later, terrified screams filled the air above Port Li.

"I'm scared!"

"We're gonna die!"

"It's too high!"

"Stop strangling me!" Pef yelled as well.

Learning to fly is not easy. It's not just controlling the machine, it's controlling your own emotions.

Ladi Si got hers under control much sooner, since her Awakening did allow some measure of self reliance and confidence.

Lady Di took the rest of the day, and she cried a gallons of tears. No wonder the Universe was called Tear, and the galaxy Golden Tear. Even the planet was called Lacrima, for some reason.

As the evening fell, the women started glancing down towards the town, while their stomachs growled.

"You're both hungry?" Pef asked, to make sure. The women nodded at once.

"Well. Time to learn how to cook, in mid air..." he said with a large smile, and began frying bits of meat on the stove.

After the first batch, the ladies had to take turns and cook, a task not as easy as it sounds.

The airship was not a modern zeppelin, 300 meters long and able of trans-oceanic flights, only a tenth of that.

As the night fell, the women took turns sleeping, while the other stood guard to fuel the stove for hot air, and navigate by the stars and the reflection of the sea.

In the morning, the women demanded a toilet break.

"Well, for that we have two options. High altitude business, or landing."

"Ahhh. How exactly do we land, without a storage ring?" Lady Si asked a bit confused.

"See this coil of rope? One of you ties herself to it, and gets lowered down. Then ties the ship and pulls it down gently. Di, you're it" our hero explained with a wide grin.

"But, it seems a bit dangerous?" Di Xi asked with a bit of worry.

"Or you can jump. Might hurt a bit.." Pef mused out loud, then jumped out from the airship, at 500 meters.

At 10 meters he pushed out his Spirit shield, creating a defensive bubble.

It popped under the impact, but Pef emerged from the crash on his feet. Barely.

'My whole body hurts...'

'Because you like to grandstand too much. Gravity is not safe, yet'

Pef jogged gently after the airship, watching Di being lowered by Si on a rope. They weren't fast enough, and Di hit a tree, knocking herself out at about 100 meters high.

He sighed and jumped up to catch his wife and drag down the airship.

"My husband is a moron!" Si yelled as she got close enough.

"Shhhh. Don't yell, you'll wake Di up." Pef answered in a normal tone.

Si jumped out from the airship a few meters up and rushed to check on the woman. Di had a big booboo on her forehead.

"I should have lowered her faster. I'm much stronger now." Si admitted with some shame.

"Anyway, beside a human anchor, you can lower a hook or something, and try to catch a solid object, like a stone or tree. But the impact will be brutal."

"And the airship might break?"

"The cradle in particular. And then you'll fall. Perhaps with the stove on top of you." Pef explained wisely.

"Flying is not very safe." Si concluded after a minute.

"Well, there's little obstacles in the air. No waves or trees or hidden reefs. Should be the safest way to travel. Safer than running through jungles or sailing at sea. But you need some practice."

"About a month to Lacrimosa, you say?"

"More or less, depending on winds. Although if you attempt frequent landings the risk grows. Landing is the most risky part."

"Yea, I've noticed. Okay, let's go home, I'm hungry again." she said with a wistful look.

And so, Pef walked into Port Li with a wife under his arm, while the other wife dragged a huge air filled snake like a kite.

It made the day for the locals, as you can imagine.

The next day Lady Di had recovered a bit, and got to say goodbye to her husband.

Pef flew west and then north in his new airship, following the Agate towards Stoneport.

Hundreds of ships navigated the river, since moving cargo was much cheaper on water.

Also, most of the farmlands of the continent were located on the sides and tributaries of the Agate.

Pef flew low, keeping close enough to the ground for the glove the pick up voices and create a noosphere of data from chatter and rumours.

Sightings of the disciples, rumours of more cultivators disappearing, even about a band of bandits that massacred a Tang caravan.

A noble woman lazed on the riverboat, looking from her chair at the boring tradeships, when a snake airship crossed across her sight.

She flared her soul, peering at the man driving the flying contraption, and tried to assert his rank.

To her surprise, due to distance and opposite vectors, she failed, getting only a return from the snake, a Spirit ranked beast that had been skinned.

"That looked like a Poison Cobra though. Who is insane enough to kill and then skin such a poisonous beast?" she wondered idly and a bit loud.

"I guess we'll find out, when we reach Port Li, Mistress Tang. We should prepare to send that poor girl's soul to the goddess." the Disciple answered in a polite tone.

"Yes, and find out why we stopped receiving messengers from the Yu and the Wong."

'So, we have a clue I think' the glove mused as it relayed the intercept.

'Yeah. I'll circle and approach again tonight. Maybe they stop on the river banks somewhere'

'And if they don't?'

'Then I'll have to get inventive.'

'Oh dear. You mean incendiaries, right? Maybe toxic gases? Kinetic drops?'

'I meant swimming.'

'Right. Forget I mentioned anything.'

'Plus, I'd need tungsten to create deorbiting kill vehicles.'

'You can't reach orbit in hot air flying machines.' the glove muttered to itself.

'Right. I'd need to invent helium. Ah, neolithic tech is so backwards...'

'Not for long...' the glove realized in near terror.