Several months passed after the large Ascension event, and Rejin had begun his Alchemy training once more, most often still failing, but once in a while creating Tier 8 Star pills, even without the aid of the Nine Shades Bamboo sprouts.

The entire restaurant staff had began growing fast in strength, but only three Arch-liches from the Ghoul faction died during their Tier 8 Ascensions.

Luckily for them, their souls had been saved via the phylactery method, and they simply resumed cultivation with a Tier 1 body and a Tier 7 soul. It sucked for them, but it was still better than reincarnating into a mortal body inside the Mirror Realm.

Others from Pef's family received cloud burgers and joined the waiters club with their brand new Tier 7 Realms, and thus the restaurant had to expand a few times, not that adding wooden rooms was any difficulty. Resizing the defense Formations was actually far harder.

Lady Lin became a Tier 8 Goddess and continued to study Forging with Pef's friend Drake at her side.

Lady Yuan and Lady Qin finally had the chance to come out from their Lacrima Universe and be put to work as waiters during the day, and loving wives at night.

Princess Nellie joined Kalima in her private pond dimension, to study Formations and Illusions in the Unreal River.

Arazmodel became in-laws with the Serghoul, after he married Lady Dalia and concluded their concurrent Tier 7 Ascensions.

Gaia and Arden also joined the Serghoul faction after reaching Tier 7 again, using the Serghoul's time field to study Life and Death Dao and try to combine them into a unified Dao, with Lady Aria keeping an eye out there, at Pef's behest.

The three Devils sisters received their own cloud burgers and instant Ascensions to Tier 7, but Pef sent them to the Cloud City to coordinate the gang war with their fellow Devils. He wouldn't renege on his promise, but having been burned twice by Devils, it was perhaps natural to be more cautious.

And now, only Lady Xie remained below the Tier 7 threshold, albeit not quite completely. Her soul had already divided and Ascended separately, creating a mighty Angel persona.

'Be careful with this woman, young Soldier. Angels are rare even in the Upper Heavens, but it was a Twin Angel that started the War in Heavens and destroyed the World Tree.' the Nine Shades Bamboo warned Pef as he sat in the shade, beside the Silent Monk.

'Was it a natural twin, or soul bifurcation?' Pef asked curious.

'That's why you need guidance, little one. Just because people call them Angels doesn't mean it's what they are. A proper name for them would be Heart Devils. In most cases this results in deviation and soul death, but sometimes they align. Follow the same purpose until they become entwined.' the World Tree sapling explained in a rare example of verbosity.

'You think the Mirror caused this Angel?' Pef asked instead.

'Obviously. You read the Mirror Compact too. They were supposed to create a powerful warrior to defeat Hualitep. In the secret clauses, they aimed to continue afterwards and defeat the Dragon Emperor as well. An Angel reaching Tier 9 would have done so easily.' the World Tree said with a disgusted tone.

'But instead, they got me.' Pef answered, half-jokingly.

'Not instead. They tried a million things at once, and created new universes until something appeared. Your Icefire, the Tao Array and this current Angel, as well as many others. There are more wonders in the Mirror Realm than in the entire Middle Heavens, not necessarily in strength but in uniqueness. And they are safer there than in the open, else some Noble steal them.' the Nine Shades disclosed with a sad voice.

Pef nodded, as he had experienced the Nether Lotus, the Well of Souls and many other strange entities during his time in the Mirror Realm. While the Middle Heavens had its share of wonderous things, he had never explored all the worlds inside the Mirror of Samsara. The Mirror Goddess was still guarding her domain with fierce jealousy.

The Middle Heavens were also mind-bogglingly large, with every Province extending out thousands of multiverses wide, while the emptier starfields in between were much larger. And there were millions of Provinces, containing uncountable numbers of people and beasts.

Even so, there were less than a thousand known Bronze Realm cultivators alive, with at least half concentrated in the Mercy Seat Province, the Capital of the Middle Heavens. However, local Governors had nearly complete autonomy and discretionary powers, as the distant Mercy Court didn't bother with the provinces much, unless they rebelled or something.

In between the Mercy Court and the Governors were the Nobles, generally titled upon becoming Bronze Realms, entitled to collect taxes or raise armies, and nominally tasked with protecting the populace. Which they nearly never did. What they did do, was tour their Domains and steal things, often with the threat of death and worse.

With such lax governance, crime was also rampant, following the examples of their own Nobles.

In the Cloud City, following the increase in realm of Lady Lia and her strengthened Oracle Skill, the gang war took a turn for the better, aided by the lower criminal support among the Cloud Guard. It seemed the Governor had began to clean house a little, as to not be accused of being partial to crime by association.

While still meditating and enjoying the mind clarity aura of the Immortal Peach Tree, Pef noticed the Governor's herald appear outside the city walls, a clear sign something was happening again.

"Well, duty calls. Silent Monk, try this new burger I made. It may work even for you." Pef said softly as he offered a tray with his newest Celestial Rat meat burger, covered in a tribulation cloud and a new bottle of Divine Wine made with the same beast's blood.

Hunting Tier 9 beasts was quite tricky as well, as they were all evasive, fast and nigh-invulnerable. But with the aid of the White Tiger, and clever portal positioning, the seven beasts were eventually forced into the Taotie's cage, and then properly dismembered for bones, meat and also organs and blood for Alchemy and Cooking.

The last Tier 9 beast, the Celestial Rat also provided the Taotie with his 7th Star, while the White Tiger also ate well and reached his 3rd Star.

Without waiting for the monk to begin his meal, Pef stepped away and saluted the Herald. "You have reached the 9th Star, herald? Not bad! But, avoid the Copper Realm Pill if you can. The Basilisk venom would haunt you in your next life, and possibly stop your cultivation in the Golden Realm after you reincarnate."

The Herald nodded cautiously while his eyes glanced at the restaurant, where two new Tier 9 goddesses were managing the clients. And Pef was quite renowned for purchasing two Copper Realm Pills last year. It didn't take a genius to make a connection.

"It's your life, man. I'd say, you better wait until I can cook Copper Burgers. It may take a while, but I just made some Silver Burgers recently. Cooking Dao is the best!" Pef said cheerfully as he stepped through a Violet portal and arrived in front of the Governor.

"Divine Cook." the man said politely.

"Governor?" Pef answered in a questioning tone.

"My man has found some of the things you wanted." the Governor said while holding out a storage ring.

Pef nodded calmly and sat in mid-air, already holding out some new wine and a pair of glasses. "Try this thing, Lord Tang. I have high hopes for the sales."

"Oh? A new wine recipe?" The Governor asked curious and sipped some wine. His eyes opened wide as he recognized the taste. "It was you? You killed that damned Celestial Rat?"

"And the other six beasts nearby. I have to follow the Dao and try new ingredients, you know? So, I also made a Silver Burger, just today. No more poisoning my poor staff with those wretched Silver Pills!" Pef declared in a proud voice, while waving his glass around in a victory triumph.

"You realize you equal a Master Alchemist, but without the soul poison? I can't even say how valuable that is..." the Governor mused gently, as he eyed the Divine Cook with new eyes.

"I tried Alchemy, but is boring. Gave it up after I failed to make Golden Pills. Cooking is much better. And my burgers taste good too!" Pef disclosed with a careless wave.

"Boring...I think only you could say such things and not sound ridiculous. Will those Silver Realm burgers appear in the restaurant menu?" the Governor asked with a frown.

"Probably next year. I still need to improve my technique and find them a decent name. Rat Burgers wouldn't sell so well, right?" Pef said with a questioning smile.

"Celestial Burgers then. And I get the first one, for naming rights." the Governor claimed with a knowing smile.

"Fine, fine, the name is quite good. Let me see that ring. I might start learning Forging again, with all these Copper Realm bones to spare." Pef demanded as he took the storage ring and began rifling through the contents.

It was enough to start a new sect with the wealth inside, everything from Dao tablets to Forging manuals and Alchemy recipes, even a few in the Silver Realm. And even a single Formation dagger tool, albeit one requiring blood sacrifice.

'More tests?' Pef wondered inward.

'Just ask.' the glove said instantly.

Pef took out the dagger and held it on his finger. "I think this tool has seen a lot of blood. I haven't studied Blood Dao that much, but I can sense stuff.

Billions of ritual murders..."

"Yes, it was found in the Desolate Void and sold at auction. I thought you'd like it." The Governor said in a grave voice.

"A remnant of the Butcher then. I know the guy who killed him. Shang something..." Pef mused out loud, while dripping a drop of blood onto the blade.

The dagger began to glow as it recognized its new owner.

"So that's why the Temple is still circling your restaurant. Is Bronze General Shang still around? He has been missing for many Cycles." the Governor asked in a level voice.

Pef shrugged carelessly. "I guess so."

"And you have access to his wealth now." the Governor deduced in a milder voice.

Pef shook his head. "I have some of his crystals, mostly to look after his girl. He wouldn't feed those sick poison pills to his only descendant." he explained easily. It was also true, so no problem there.

"Well, the Bronze Master has many friends, but even more enemies. I'd keep your connection hidden." the Governor advised Pef in a warning tone.

"I don't even have any enemies in the Middle Heavens! Well, except those Temple guys, which you asked me to spare." Pef answered with a shrug.

"Don't spare them on my account, Divine Cook. But I'd say you be careful, at least until you Ascend to Bronze Realm." the man said in a serious tone.

"Right! If you happen to find some evil beast in Bronze Realm, let me know. For if I am to cook some really nice burgers, I will need better meat." Pef

said as a parting word, then hoped into a Violet portal and vanished.

The Governor coughed into his fist, then turned towards the side where his new guest lay hidden under hundreds of concealment arrays.

"So?" he asked carefully.

"Not someone I know, that's for sure. He also didn't bother to lie, even about my old friend. But if General Shang was around, I would know!" the man under the concealment said in a worried tone.

"But, hunting a Bronze Realm Beast?" the Governor asked curious.

"Just like the disappeared Copper Realm beasts, I don't expect too much in the way of aftershocks or explosions. Your Divine Cook has cleaner methods, and certainly wants to avoid repeating the Desolation Void debacle. That is surely General's Shang influence." the guest added in a gentler voice, then vanished, also ignoring the expensive Formations of the Cloud Palace.

The Governor sighed and gulped some Celestial Wine from his gift bottle. He wouldn't drink rat wine, would he?