"Quickly, little Pef! The Supreme Master won't be happy if we are late." His mother puffed as she dragged the little blonde boy by the hand, towards the seemingly distant Inner Hall.

In truth the hall was barely a li away, or 500 meters if anyone would bother with metric in this universe. But they didn't.

Pef frowned, then pushed hard onto the granite tiles, increasing his speed to the maximum of his tiny body capacity.

Rena smiled faintly, then kept pace with ease, while the young boy broke all the human speed records to reach the doors of the hall in less than a minute.

Stopping to draw his breath and circulate his qi, Pef then pushed onto the doors, and found them stuck. Or more probably, locked.

"Don't waste your strength, my boy. You need the form your inner Core, before you can open the Inner Halls by yourself." his mother explained while gently pressing onto the door with her left palm. She pressed harder. The door still resisted, making Rena frown.

Someone had indeed messed with the door, raising the cultivation threshold above her own Spirit Realm.

"Hey old geezer! I'm leaving if you play such games!" Pef shouted angrily, even infusing his voice with a bit of mana to make it spread farther.

He dragged himself away and began walking determined back to his courtyard, while Rena gasped in shock and shame.

A second later, both metal doors opened inward to reveal a ceremonial gathering of a thousand disciples and three dozen Elders, all starring at the departing butt of a young little boy.

Seating on a stone throne, a middle-aged man chuckled at the scene, then poked the man beside him. "Sect Master, the boy is right. If you play such games, there no point in inviting me, or him either." then, with a jolt, the middle aged man simply rose into the air and floated away, coincidently keeping pace with the departing kid.

"...Damn it!" the old Sect Master grumbled, while his tired eyes searched among the crowd for a likely culprit. His loss of face was huge, and from a stupid prank too.

He just pointed at the Law Enforcement Elder with one finger, before running after the flying Master.

"Supreme Master, don't be too upset! We'll find the prankster and have him flogged a hundred times..." the old man pleaded as he reached the floating man.

With a suppressed grunt, the middle-aged Master landed and began walking in step with the young child, while ignoring the old man behind.

"Come to my home, flying guy. I have some really good tea..." Pef offered with a careless voice, only glancing once at the towering man beside.

A snort emerged from the Sky Ranked Master, but he abstained to comment, simply turning towards the following Sect Master. "Perhaps it is better that I speak alone with your Holy Son, Earth Master Chen." the man proposed with a level voice, but one that chilled the Sect Master's heart. It was clearly an order.

Soon after, Pef had the man seated as he prepared the tea, the fragrant tea leaves themselves imported by ship from a distant shore. He kept quiet and concentrated during the ceremony, and managed to brew a rank A teapot, at least in his own opinion. Also true, only his opinion mattered anyways, in his own opinion.

If it wasn't clear, Pef had quite strong opinions for a five year old boy.

Tea served, Pef raised his eyes to observe the man in front, noting the frozen blue flame on his shoulder, and other details that might be missed by others. Plates of beast bone hidden inside the inner vest, a sharp short sword in his sleeve, various pouches for medicine or poison, possibly both.

"Nine seconds" the young boy said instead, then taking a small sip and appreciating the tea.

"..." The Sky Master blinked for a confused second, before realizing his flight limit was seen through .

"Two Stars of Sky Realm, some expertise in poison and melee, probably an Ice Adept too." Pef explained while watching his guest. Other hidden clues like a shoulder injury and multiple blocked circuits were found, and kept note of, for later.

A small tremor around the man's lips confirmed he had hit the mark, possibly right in the heart.

"Around Eight Stars of Foundation Realm, possibly an Initiate in melee and Ice?" the man in front wondered while measuring this strange Holy Son in front of him. A tiny little blonde boy, surrounded by a golden holy aura, and knowing much too much.

"I do not train in melee yet, fly guy. My body needs to grow and mature a little, or it would get damaged permanently. As for elemental affinity, it will be Water." Pef spoke softly but confidently.

"Are you certain? Not Ice?" the Sky Ranker asked with a frown.

"Ice is made of water, only colder. Just as steam is made of water, only hotter." Pef revealed with a sad smile, and sipped more tea.

"These are secrets from the Icefire stone tablet. Did someone reveal these to you, boy?" the ranker asked in a harsher voice, while leaning forward menacingly.

"Don't bother with the scary parts, fly guy. I know things you can't even imagine, and things that can't be even possible. And you may call me Pef, after this tea is over." the boy demanded in a calm voice, while staring with clear eyes at the powerhouse, revealing a complete lack of fear.

"Hmm. I heard you were a difficult one, Holy Son..." the Sky Ranker commented as he leaned back and sipped the tea. It was quite a good tea indeed, on par with the Fragrance House. Yet not brewed by a Steam Master...quite the mystery.

"I have a Sky Pill with me. Your Sect Master is willing to trade you for it. He is stuck in the Earth Realm and will die in a few years without it." the man said a level voice, while watching Pef's face for any sign of fear or surprise.

But Pef just smiled and nodded, as if he expected this. "Buying the egg but not the chicken? The old guy will sell his mother and sisters for that pill, so...we will buy the Holy Mother and the Grand Elder too. And get a thousand gold coins for my use." Pef added as an afterthought.

Resources were expensive in this world, though probably much less than what he remembered from his old life. Damn stupid memories, made no sense at all. Nobody would sell an entire universe for a single pill, right?