Months passed as they tend to do, and young Pef turned 11 years old, and entered Sovereign Realm, a grand achievement for anyone to be fair.

The Grand Elders were a bit more surprised when they were called for extra lessons by the Holy Son, and saw the young boy had already matched their cultivation realm.

The seven Grand Elders, including the newly promoted Elder Bo from the Resource Hall were taken into the metal array room, where a floating blonde boy was shifting between nine Domains, as if bored.

The ninth Domain was not an elemental one, but a Sword Domain and much more powerful than all the other Domains, even if they could combine.

For our young hero has just achieved One with the Heavens stage, a stage rarely seen even among powerful Tier 3 or Tier 4 deities.

"Welcome, esteemed Sect Elders. Take a seat, as we begin your first steps towards immortality." Pef greeted the seven men with a wide smile, while gesturing in an arc in front of him.

Confused or hopeful faces stared at the young Sovereign. "I am already 50 thousand years old, Holy Son. If I were mortal, I would have died long ago." Elder Bo answered proudly as he sat in mid-air.

"We'll get to that in a moment. Firstly, I want all of you to develop a second domain, and that will be a Fire Domain. You may begin, fox girl." Pef continued without changing his tone, still in teaching mode.

Giant waves and sharp ice shards erupted in the test room, much stronger now since there were seven more Sovereigns inside, all-but-immune to any elemental damage. But a artificial Water Domain powered by a Saint was still strong enough to deplete their qi reserves rapidly, thus forcing the venerable elders to struggle for their lives to achieve an opposite Domain.

Pef just observed the old men, noting each of them for various markers, from self-control, composure, to recovery speed or insight. Everyone is different after all, and training at this level needed to be calibrated and tailored for each individual.

One by one, driven by desperation and fear of death, as well as the very presence of an inimical Domain, the Icefire Grand Elders began to shift their consciousness towards a new pattern of insights and countered the water and ice with their own Fire Domains.

Not surprisingly, since he was the newest Sovereign of them all, Elder Bo was the last to achieve his new Domain, nearly drowning before he found salvation in Dao.

With a flash of golden runes, the Water Domain then vanished from the test room. Pef simply lit up his Icefire flame in his tiny palm, as he began the lesson.

"Gaining an opposite Domain to your natural one is the hardest thing a cultivator will do, even after becoming immortal. Something like Icefire itself, it has finished understanding both the Dao of Fire and of Water, making it equal to an Elder God cultivator. Even so, it is not yet an immortal flame. Its mind and memories would vanish if something was to kill Icefire, and it would not reincarnate with its memories and the flame of its intact soul. That is the meaning of immortality. It is our soul."

The seven elders stared at the tiny Icefire with a mix of awe and respect.

"First things first though. You will all need to complete your Water Dao to the maximum. I have called a Saint in the next room, to power up the artificial Domain until you do. Flames will come, stronger and stronger, to help you finish this task faster. However, all the pain and suffering that you will endure here do have a purpose. At the end of this, you will Ascend." Pef spoke in a more pleasant tone, as he pointed towards a wall and Icefire flash-burned the improved Water Method onto a metal wall.

The other six Grand Elders were somewhat more subdued, but Elder Bo coughed and spat some remaining ice shards from his lungs. "How certain are you of this, Holy Son? You have not Ascended into Monarch Realm." the man asked gruffly.

"I am quite certain, Elder Bo. As for my own Ascension, it is a mere formality. I did reach immortality after all. Climbing back to Tier 7 divinity will not be too hard. I just need to meditate and remember more." the blonde boy spoke confidently as he dropped to his feet and walked out without looking back.

Whatever remarks the elders inside wanted to make, the giant flames that covered them made them delay and forget for a while. A Fire Domain was not easy to push back, even if one had a natural essence of Water like all Icefire Elders had.

As Pef stepped out and the glowing runes sealed the metal room behind him, the Fox Saint stared for a second at her teacher with wide eyes.

"That was quite the secret you revealed in there, Holy Son." the woman spoke in a more timid voice.

"You are my disciple, fox girl. There are things you will learn at my side. Cannot be helped." Pef admitted while holding his hands up in fake helplessness.

"I think the Lake Saint knows your secret as well. She can read minds..." the Fox Saint warned him with a small smile.

"Probably so. She seems quite smart, the lake girl." Pef said with a knowing smile. He was quite certain the Lake Saint suspected his origins, or at least the latest one.

But his success had as an equal part, another reason. His other life, on a small blue planet in the Milky Way, where cultivators were mere myth and legend, or characters in books.

He also suspected his second life had been much easier and ascensions more rapid because of that, because narrative plots and his physics knowledge would have helped him there as well.

Sure, there were still many gaps in his memories, some of them quite obvious and deliberate. Places and people simply did not exist, friends or family, or perhaps a allegiance to country or sect.

Emotional baggage had been removed, so that his new life be free. It made sense in way, for each new life had the right to develop anew, and create new connections.

On the other hand...someone or something had managed to kill him, even as strong as he was, at least in the second life. Pef could not even imagine what kind of weapon or Skill would possibly damage a Tier 7 deity. In this life, he would need to be more careful, and try to become stronger.

As he looked at the Fox Saint, and her admiring gaze, Pef frowned inward. He would need strong allies as well, if the thing that killed him before was waiting for him. That was the problem with immortality. Old enemies would still be there, since injuries or even death would only delay them.

'We need to research the Monarch Realm even closer. This is when the soul becomes bound, and most vulnerable. Perhaps even immortal souls can be destroyed.' Pef mused inward, making the small Icefire sprite shiver.

'Let's hope we never have to kill a soul. All souls have karma, and need to return to the Paths.' Icefire answered in a glacial warning tone.

'Have you located the Sect Founder?' Pef asked instead. He would decide on the killing, when the time came.

'Of course. His gas essence has gathered near the Big Icefire, as you asked.' the small flame answered in a more relieved tone.

'Good! It's time to return him to flesh then.' the blonde boy said inward as he grabbed his new crystal glasses, inscribed with a special array.