Pef sat beside the Taotie and spat another blob of blood, while circulating the green Preservation aura to heal the remaining internal injuries. The Violet Realm was safe enough though, so he could heal without exposing too much weakness to his allies.

"The guy must have been in the 6th Star, Master. Even I can't damage you so much." the Taotie spoke in a level voice, then licked his lips in approval.

Live meals were always the best, and Copper Immortals even more. The Master was a good provider though, always bringing in delicious meals.

"I know, old badger. I thought I was strong, but it seems I'm still lacking." Pef complained in a tired voice, even as his Dragon Scale Vest popped out its dents and folds and returned to pristine state under the Repair Formation Array. The damage would have been much worse without the vest, so Pef couldn't complain about it.

Pef sighed and sat up, then streched his back and rotated his shoulders. He turned his hand and a dozen high level Artifacts began floating in the air, all covered in restriction runes and Formation Arrays. One by one, Pef broke the restrictions and deciphered the new Formations, adding them to his own large inventory of similar arrays.

'So many new Formation paths, who even has time to construct all of these arrays?' Pef wondered inward.

'You're barely 35 years old, Pef Xi. These Tier 9s in the Middle Heavens have been alive for thousands, maybe millions of Chaos Cycles. They had all the time in the world to cultivate and craft.' the glove explained in a carefree voice. Its user didn't disappoint in this aspect, being able to understand and decipher even the obscure arrays of the Temple. But then again, he did train for an entire decade submerged in the Unreal River.

Pef set aside the ordinary combat artifacts, and kept a palm-sized yellow emblem with a drop of blood crystalized in the middle.

"Lick this!" he asked the Taotie, who blinked in surprise then obeyed, extending a long tongue to swipe the blood crystal. To be fair, the Taotie had an amazing sense of taste, being able to analyze nearly anything with a single bite.

"Oh? It's the blood essence of a Bronze Realm, Master! Can I have a few more licks...I might gain another Star?" the Taotie pleaded in a begging voice.

"Really, just from a single drop of blood?" Pef asked a bit confused. Raising the Taotie to the 6th Star would be a huge boon as well, especially in this dangerous world.

"It's not just blood, Master. It's blood essence. This powerhouse condensed it with his will, probably as a form of inheritance." the Taotie explained in a serious tone, while eyeing the emblem in Pef's hand with greedy eyes.

Pef waved the glove over the emblem, using the glove's own Taotie claw to scrape a thin layer for the glove to analyze as well.

'Indeed, it is a Tier 10 bloodline. I expect this emblem is used for a resonance effect, likely to search for a descendant of this powerhouse. And since they brought it here...' the glove said after a long minute of computation.

Pef flared the Artifact Creation Array and used the flake of condensed blood on the glove, adding the emblem's functions to the glove, then he just waited. He already suspected why the Temple used such a powerful Elder to attack his restaurant, but better make sure.

'Let's see, searching array...filtering our own concealment arrays, exclude the nearby sources...yes! It's the new girl.' the glove concluded after a few minutes.

Pef nodded and scooped out the blood crystal from the yellow Temple emblem, then began to Devour the blood essence, aided by the knowledge gained from the Blood Expert Supreme Devil. The Transference process took a long time, perhaps a million years of accelerated time in the Taotie's field.

His fourth Star condensed rapidly after that, and the fifth Star followed much slower, almost exhausting the entire essence of the blood crystal.

Pef held the last remains of the crystal in his hand, then turned towards the drooling Taotie. "I expect you to work hard, old badger." he demanded in a colder voice, then flicked the nearly depleted crystal into the taotie's waiting maw.

"Thank you, Master. Anything you need!" the beast announced in a content voice, then sat down to Devour the crystal and enhance his own cultivation with a new Star.

Pef stepped away and entered the Blue realm of the Seven Colored Pagoda, then took one more step to move beside the Nine Shades Bamboo and its guardian, the Silent Monk.

The old monk opened his eyes and nodded towards Pef, then blinked and measured him again, a bit surprised.

"Yes, Silent Monk. Some Tier 9 guy attacked my restaurant, and handed over some nice cultivation supplements. Helped me reach my 5th Star a bit sooner." Pef disclosed with a shrug, then took out a bottle of Divine Wine and a pair of glasses.

The Silent Monk sighed in silence and waved a hand to produce a small table, then sat down to wait for his treat. The Lightning Tribulation had stopped once they arrived in the Middle Heavens, so the only source of cultivation energy were Pef's own creations, be they pills, burgers or wine.

As for regular cultivation, the old monk would need millions of Chaos Cycles to reach the next realm, especially with his own special method that bypassed Tier 9 completely.

Pef poured wine for both of them, then patted the old monk's hand with his gloved hand.

'The seventh level of Half-Bronze Realm. He's still about 10 times stronger than you.' the glove said after a minute.

They both drank the wine in silence, and enjoyed the Dao insights that followed. Am hour later, the Silent Monk turned and rose an eyebrow towards Pef. Now it came the hard part.

"I've found the inheritance of a Tier 10 immortal, as well as the person with the right bloodline. However, the emblem states that only Tier 8 or lower can enter the secret realm. I'm too strong." Pef explained while setting the yellow Temple emblem on the table.

The Silent Monk waved his hand and the emblem jumped into his palm. The air around the monk began to waver and wobble, as the old man used his own mystical arts to deduce the truth.

Pef rose and walked beside the World Tree Sapling, and placed his gloved palm on the colorful bark.

'Good. You listen. Keep cultivating this fast.' the World Tree transmitted directly into Pef's soul, then a green glow floated over Pef and enhanced his Preservation Dao with another percent.

Pef took out a bottle of Divine Wine and poured it around the tree, then walked back to the Silent Monk.

The spatial distortion ended and the Silent Monk appeared again, this time dressed in a long yellow cowl, with the Temple Emblem hanged around his neck.

Pef nodded. "Be careful out there, old man. The Middle Heavens are a bit dangerous."

The old monk just smiled a bit sad then stepped away, entering the Dragon Burger restaurant in the outer world.

In a minute, he collected the new girl and stepped away, heading for a distant starfield in another Province.

---------

Shang Wei had only finished her first day at work, serving guests and earning a million times more than an expert waiter in the Cloud City, when a strange old man dressed in yellow appeared in her room.

She measured him warily, noting her immortal senses couldn't perceive his cultivation or intent. "Hello? Are you in the restaurant management?" she asked cautiously.

The old man just smiled and took her hand with impossible force, then extracted a drop of blood from her finger, then placed it carefully on an emblem he wore at his neck. The emblem began glowing at once, making Shang Wei feel dizzy, as if her own blood was singing.

'The Silent Monk has found your Ancestor's secret realm, little one. Be nice to the old man, he doesn't mean harm.' she heard her Highness speak in her mind.

Before she could reply, the Silent Monk stepped away, crossing half the Cloud Province in a single step, while carrying her along in his Dao field.

A few more steps, and they left the Cloud Province behind and entered the starfield, where old monsters and Voracious Beasts roamed freely.

The old man stopped and extracted another drop of her blood, then kept going, possibly following a trajectory set by that yellow emblem.

"My name is Shang Wei. You must be the Silent Monk, right?" she asked at the next stop.

The man rose his eyes and stared directly into her soul, answering the question with his absurd silence.

"It's ok, I don't mind if you're handicapped. I saw many damaged people in the Temple, usually by their own Ascension trials. At least you have eyes..." Shang Wei said in a kind voice, making the Silent Monk falter for a second.

His shoulders trembled lightly, as if sobbing in pain.

"There, there. I heard these deviations can be cured once you Ascend again, though I'm not exactly sure. I just ate the Dragon Burger and simply Ascended without any trials or tribulations." She said softly and patted the old man on the shoulder.

The man stopped and took off the hood from his yellow cowl. He pointed at a place among two fast-spinning and blinking stars, where immense forces were churning and tearing the space apart, in a constant shower of fire, lightning and spatial distortions.

Shang Wei noted the man had a light mirth in his eyes, as if enjoying himself.

"Are we going in there? I just became Immortal..." she complained in a scared voice, before the Silent Monk grabbed her hand and stepped through.

The Void wavered for a second, then resumed its tearing, while the two people passed through the Illusion Array and emerged into a new world.