Far away, in a different place and time a group of women sat around a table, sipping tea and exchanging stories.

And if you suspect this place was the Exitus Gate fortress, and the women were the wives of our great hero, you'd be right.

At the moment, all eyes were focused on Vela, now a Tier 3 goddess and a Legion Soldier of decent strength. But that wasn't the important part.

For Vela had a special connection with their husband, a soul link established by a unfathomable Power Word weapon.

Vela raised her eyes and nodded. "I am certain, sisters. He has ascended once more...and he's now in great pain, as if his soul is burning."

Lia frowned for a moment while clenching her hand on the pommel of her sword. Her oracular powers were highly restricted in this universe, and by the lack of clear information. Still, as little the nugget of information as they received from Vela, everything helped. "Two ascensions in 2 years? And he is fighting again, something so strong that he has to constantly employ his Cutting skill...it has to be goliths. He is fighting them right now." she deduced with the aid of her own oracle skill.

All eyes turned towards Lin, their Tier 4 smith and the current holder of a Power Word gun, one named Faith by their husband.

"Hmmm. There has to be a time deceleration effect on us, in this universe. A single ascension is not that extraordinary, not even for Pef. There are opportunities out there, rare plants or maybe ascension pills, formation arrays that collect qi and certainly strong enemies to defeat. But, another one? Faith has no idea what can do that, and so fast, except perhaps a Tier 8 god helping him, but that's highly improbable." the smith muttered with a confused voice.

Lia smiled gently into her tea cup. Her skill insisted on the most logic premise. Remove the impossible, and whatever was left was the truth. "Indeed. Improbable as it may be, don't forget who we married. I'd say the odds of him not seducing a Tier 8 goddess are lower than the opposite. He does like strong women."

Grins spread around the table, as every woman here recalled their precious memories of their husband.

"Why isn't he coming back for us? I want to fight beside him too, damn idiot." Xie muttered with a petulant voice, and took out a bottle of precious Godwine. She then took a gulp of wine and messily wiped her lips with the back of her Godbeast-skin glove.

Lia and Lin glanced at each other and shrugged in tandem.

"If he could have, Pef would have returned the next day. He obviously can't." Yuan concluded with a knowing glance towards their Oracle.

"Yes, obviously. Now, I have a theory why he was allowed to leave through the Exitus Gate, and none of us were." Lia mused with her eyes closed. "Pef has completed his Dao of Water, before he entered. None of us have, except Lin and her Smithing Dao."

The sister-wives turned toward their head sister. Lin sighed audibly and sipped some tea, while her weapon appeared on the table. "It's a good guess Lia, but Faith says there's something more. Pef had the glove."

"You have a Legion gun too! Aren't they even stronger?" Qin asked with a wondering voice.

Lady Lin tapped the Legion gun with a finger, no doubt exchanging information at a fast pace. "This might work. If the gate is a filter and not a prison lock, then any of us with the same qualifications should be able to cross. What else, Lia?"

The Oracle frowned while mentally listing all they knew of Pef's state before he left.

"Pef didn't have any people in his inner world. He didn't want to risk their lives, if he failed. Does that count?" Mia asked hesitantly.

The wives cursed in a chorus, as another clue had revealed itself.

"Good thinking, Mia!" Blossom encouraged her with grin.

The last wife, Aria stood up and gripped her Veridian Garden necklace. "I'll be back in a month. Just need to spread my inhabitants and deploy the Green regiment in a nearby galaxy. By that time I'll also have the Dao of Wood completed."

Without further words, the green-haired goddess Blinked away, and entered the voidworm tunnel that linked the Exitus station with the nearest galaxy.

Lady Lin coughed gently to draw the attention of the other sister-wives. "Yuan and Qin should be ready as well in a month. Lia, you find Commander Wong and make sure he is also ready."

Xie slumped in her chair, knowing she was too far away for this goal, at least in such a short time-frame. Both Mia and Blossom smiled awkwardly, as they weren't even considered for a gate deployment. Then again, someone did have to stay behind and look after their people.

Then Lady Lin cursed softly. "We must ask the devils too. And then, there's Nellie." she whispered with a glance towards Vela.

The former vestal elf sighed in response. "Nellie will not leave her father, not now while he is sick and dying. As for the devils...maybe Lasciel can be ready in time."

"Lasciel, huh? I'd say Lord Yamon would be a better candidate, if we're being honest." Lin muttered to herself, while going over potential allies to invite.

They haven't kept contact with the Archdemon, and Shia, the Ant Queen was busy colonizing a thousand galaxies for her ants. Pef had hoped a large number of ant soldiers will help the Legion in the wider verse, and thus he had tasked Shia with aggressive expansion and multiplication.

Lin personally doubted any amount of low level troops could make a difference, but the Ant Queen was happy, so there she goes.

And then, there was Lady Cellia who had departed in huff to explore the universe and discover herself. Sure, Artus kept her company along with his Arctic regiment, but they had no up-to-date knowledge of their cultivation achievements in the past millennia. Sparse reports of new galaxies and beast infestations being neutralized meant little without concrete details.

'Who do you think we should call?' Lin asked inward, knowing that Faith was always listening.

'Wixtal Xi seems quite important.' Faith answered as she appeared in Lin's inner world, now sporting short black hair and a metal armor instead of her original bald nun appearance.

"Isn't he only at Tier 2? Despite his golden aura, he is the weakest..." Lin muttered with some surprise.

The weapon's avatar just shook her head.

"Okay then. If you have faith in him, I'll send a qi transmission." Lin decided with a careless shrug.

"No need. Reason has heard us already. She will accelerate his training to make Wixtal ready, Dao of Wind and Tier 3 by next month. We do need to leave now if you want to save Cellia from her hubris. That spider nest has a Tier 4 beast deep below." Faith added with a faint smile.

"Another one? I swear I'm going to punch whoever runs this prison, right in their eyes!" Lin exclaimed in outrage as she rushed to intercept the next menace.

"Have faith" the Word Gun murmured to herself, while her user left the tunnel network and Blinked at speed towards their target.

Perhaps it wasn't fair to manipulate her user this way, but it was all for the best. Acting and reacting quickly and decisively would serve the user well during a real war, while the extra deposits of Red and Green Impure Jade would provide the weapon with more energy to deal with dangerous foes.

Sure, one had to take care not to impede the growth of their user, thus revealing all the information was counter-productive. Bits and pieces here and there would force the Captain to think for herself, to construct viable battleplans and then swiftly modify them as the battlefield changed.

None of the Legion Soldiers in this universe were truly ready for the horrors outside, from True Devils and Immortal Godbeasts, to corrupting plagues and goliths waves, plus the regular greed and pride of powerful cultivators.

They all sought to emulate Pef, and then join him in combat, ignoring the fact that the young Soldier was battling goliths out there, without his Legion armor or a Veritas Word gun.

Lin herself dismissed Wixtal Xi as being weak, although he was the only one around who stood a chance to fight a golith and live. But they will learn their folly, and soon enough.