"This. This is not a mere Saint Realm flame." Pef mumbled as he examined the thing in front of him.

Memories scrolled at speed, stopping sometimes to compare then scrolling again. 'This isn't even a Divine Fire. Not a Tier 5 either. At least Tier 6.' Pef mused inward as his memories failed to find something of the same nature. 'At this Tier, any object will have gained sentience already. What is it doing here, under a low level Sect in the middle of nowhere?' Pef wondered as his hand began to creep forward.

"Touching the Icefire will simply obliterate you, little one. It would annihilate even me, without noticing." the Saint warned him sternly.

"This is not fire, frosty guy. Nor ice." Pef answered in a far away voice, lost inside broken and forgotten memories.

"Our Sect has guarded the Icefire for millions of years. Nobody knows what it is." the Ice Saint rumbled in a harsh voice.

'You must be a thinking being. Are you lost here, just like me?' the boy wondered in his mind.

"It is a being. Not made of flesh, but from qi and energy." Pef concluded as he stepped closer to the Icefire. To the Saint's surprise, the boy wasn't burned nor frozen as the cold flames avoided the blonde boy as he approached on his tiny legs.

'Small, too small. Cannot contain all. Only a small one. ' a distant voice entered Pef's soul.

A tiny flame jumped out from the cold inferno and landed on Pef's palm, twirling like a fire devil. The young boy petted the small flame as if calming a small mouse, then turned around and walked out of the flames, holding the little creature in his palms. "It kinda tickles..." the boy observed and smiled angelically at the amazed Saint.

"... I wasted a million years for this?" the Saint grumbled as his life collapsed under him.

Pef ignored the Saint, simply sitting down next to him and playing with the new pet. 'Can you enter my palm? I remember something like that...' Pef wondered inward, and instantly the flame sunk into his left hand and vanished.

"This tiny flameling is as strong as you are compared to me, Ice Saint. It just needs to sleep a while and adapt living outside its parent, but it will make a great weapon if we need it" Pef explained as he summoned the Icefire youngling into his palm once more.

"Can I?" The Saint asked hesitantly while he extended a palm out.

"Not this one, frosty guy. As for another one...I will need to reach a higher realm, maybe Spirit or perhaps Emperor. It will take a couple of years." Pef said as the Icefire sunk once more into his palm, then rushed into his dantian to sleep.

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

Back in the Pearl Sea, a woman with indigo hair and eyes floated in the middle of a embroidery spun with time strings, qi nearly depleted from constant exhaustion.

Still, she endured as she crafted another flower and released it into the painting, where it unfolded with green vitality.

"Another second saved, Little Yue. Are you tired?" the ever-present monster asked in a gentle tone.

"I can keep going, Grandpa. Maybe two or three more..." Yue answered in a slow drawl, if she was ready to faint at any moment.

"One more for today. Your mind isn't focused on cultivation. What is it, that husband of yours?" the Taotie muttered a bit disappointed. A distracted disciple was slowing things down, not that he was in any hurry.

Yue just nodded as she spun another flower, and gained another second to spend sometime later.

"He is alive, and getting stronger again. The Mirror hides him as best as it can, but I have other tricks too. Once I take a bite from something, I can always find them again." The Taotie disclosed with a proud voice.

Yue perked up as she closed the painting and turned towards her teacher. "Really? So you did have a hidden agenda with those bites, huh?" she asked while smiling wryly.

"I have a thousand plans, little one. Yet, they all take time to unfold, just like that white lotus of yours. The General." the spirit beast spoke with a sour tone.

Yue turned and glanced towards the distant Breach in the multiverse. "She is a bit closer to the Breach now. But still ignoring me, although Legion-code messages flow towards the Mausoleum and beyond."

"She is avoiding me, more likely. Cute, but useless anyway." the Taotie answered with a toothy grin.

"Don't be bad, Grandpa. My husband is in the Legion, as are my sisters and children. Step-children." Yue warned the monster with a glare.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, the plant beast is safe for now. I would eat her last anyways." the spirit beast said with a mild voice.

"Bad Grandpa. Take me someplace to hunt!" Yue demanded as she waved a fist at the Devouring Monster.

"Hmmm. There's a major golith wave, just next door in the True Devil realm. Want to meet the neighbors?" the Taotie proposed kindly, although it was already moving towards the destination.

In a moment, Yue arrived in the middle of a pandemonium of carnage, trillions of devils equipped with huge power armors clashing with the golith invaders, while from the backlines, True Devils flashed their violet eyes to obliterate thousands of goliths with every eyebeam.

Yue announced her presence and Legion allegiance with a loud multi-band transmission, then began snatching the stronger goliths into her time painting-prison.

Golith stings began shifting targets towards the newcomer, but without effect, simply vanishing into the Devouring Globe provided by the Taotie.

Here and there, Yue added her own special touch, slowing or rewinding time to save a planet or another from destruction, then moved on.

Meanwhile, the spirit beast just munched and bit from the helpless multidimensional creatures, enjoying their fear and pain as it devoured them alive, like eating live octopi with soy sauce.

It didn't take long for a Devil Commander to notice the intrusion and arrive nearby.

"Veritas Legion Soldier, your help is not needed." the devil spoke with a dismissive tone, all while slicing around with sword qi and flashing spirit beams from his violet eyes at the goliths.

A giant claw formed around the Tier 7 Devil and held him tight as it dragged it towards the floating indigo-glowing beast. "You want to get eaten, tiny devil?" the Taotie rumbled as another claw brought an even stronger golith to his jaws and they crunched the multidimensional shell with loud cracks.

"...Unhand me you beast!" the devil demanded, to his immediate regret, as his arms were ripped out and devoured by the Taotie.

"Interfere with my disciple's training again, and I will eat your ancestors as well. Now fuck off!" the monster explained politely as it threw the armless devil over universes and dimensions, right at his ancestors feet in the Nine Hells Devilopolis shellworld.

The two Supreme Devils glanced at each other, then sighed. "Go to the virgin bloodpool to recover, Commander Umbriel. And don't mouth off to the Taotie again. The beast has long memories and even longer reach." the female Devil spoke gently, although her pride hurt.

"Too bad the Jade Emperor failed. We'd have been much safer if the Taotie was fully converted, not this paradox of allegiance and free-will." the male Devil mused thoughtfully, as his senses observed the border battle and dispatched troops at the needed zones.

"A converted Taotie would be a terrible weapon in the hands of anyone that holds the leash." the other Devil replied with a small shiver.

"Unless it was us, of course." the male Devil added with a tiny smile.

"Hualitep has not recovered since the General found its weakness and sent him running. Someone else must be diverting these goliths towards our realm." the female Devil concluded as her Skill resumed its search.

"Obviously. But, is it someone from our Realm or outside?" the male Devil wondered as his gaze turned towards the red-glowing Breach.

"I'm still searching." the female Devil said with a frown.

The Supreme Devil sighed softly and returned to his main job, of guarding the Devil Realm from intrusion.

He sometimes wished to have a useful Skill as well, but the Heavens weren't that merciful with the Devils.