As the night came, Wixtal arrived with the final order for the day.

Already five disciples had obtained their Tier 8 Ascensions, and the Elder never seemed to lack funds for more orders.

"This is the last order for today. Do you want to reserve the room for tomorrow?" Wixtal asked in a polite voice.

The Grand Elder frowned, then looked at the pale Elder beside him, looking rather chew-up up by that White Tiger in the arena.

"You don't have a hotel in the park?" he asked gently.

"The Sword Monument is open even at night. I hear the cultivation mats work wonders, if you can obtain a spot. People might sell their spots for the right price." Wixtal said with a smile.

"Why would they sell? You can simply sit there for years.." a disciple asked curious.

"At dawn, the Monument Formation resets and the visitors are expelled back at the entrance of the park. The entry fee is valid for a single day." the waiter answered in a pleasant voice, then drew back to wait beside the door.

The Grand Elder nodded to his injured brother, and the man departed with the lucky 5 Silver Immortals towards the Monument. Might as well profit even more from the visit to the Cloud Province. The Sect had invested quite a lot in this endeavor, by providing enough funds for transport and Celestial Burgers for the brightest disciples, hoping to obtain a hundred Sword Masters without killing 10000 candidates with the poisonous Silver Pills.

And not only the burgers worked, but the amazing wine even helped Copper Realm Elders obtain new Dao insights!

This place could become a cultivation Holy Land, unless some Nobles took notice and stole everything, like they always did.

"We'll come back tomorrow" the Grand Elder decided after a moment of thought. It was safer to treat this place like a powerful sect and not a mere restaurant.

As expected, some of the Daoists cultivating at the Sword Monument were indeed amenable to sell their spots, for 10 high-grade crystals, a price that equaled a Golden Burger and a chance for immortality. The Elder even noticed a Core Realm girl staring at the glowing sword with bright eyes, and emanating the aura of the first Sword Unity. That was beyond strange, even for his long life among countless sword cultivators.

"Little girl, how can you have such Dao with the Sword?" he asked her in a soft voice.

The girl glanced at him a bit annoyed, then turned back to stare at the blue-glowing sword. "I trained for a decade with a Saber Saint, in a lower universe. But the Middle Heavens are nice too, never expected to find such a wonder. I bet I can reach One with the World in a few years."

"When you do, insert some qi in this emblem. I will take you as my true disciple" the Grand Elder offered while giving the girl his personal token.

However, the girl simply took his token and stored it in her ring, then sighed. "I already have a Master, the man who created this Sword Monument. We can spar for a decade though, if you want."

The Grand Elder sat on his mat and began observing the glowing sword as well, a bit sad for losing such a great disciple. The man who created this Monument was close to his own level, although still rough in a few places in regards to Sword Dao. But the Formations hidden in the sword aura were far more intricate than he suspected at first, and probably the mark of a Formation Master.

Sadly, his Sect had few Formation manuals, and even the Sword Ancestor didn't study Formation Dao so far. He focused on the Air element and lost himself in insights, until he was moved outside at dawn.

"Gather on me!" he ordered as the young disciples awoke in mild confusion among thousands of unknown people.

In a minute, he gathered 95 disciples to re-enter the Celestial Restaurant, while his Elder brother took the 5 Ascended disciples to the battle arena.

Besides the big prize ring, there were also smaller rings for sparing or duels, and the new Sword Immortals will need to polish their skills.

This time, a woman waiter awaited at the Silver Entrance, with the aura of the Heart of the Sword! Such an achievement was the mark of a Sword Elder in the sect, but here it was still only a waiter.

"You have a reservation for your group?" she asked politely.

"Yes. The Immortal Sword Soul." the Grand Elder said with a nod. The waiter was not impressed, and just smiled.

"All right. Follow me then." she said and walked away, leading them to the same large room from yesterday.

"Of course, esteemed customer." she spoke pleasantly and flew away.

In a minute she returned with the order, and two wine bottles. "There is also a free bottle of wine from the Divine Cook, a brand not yet on the menu. Just let me know if you enjoy it." she explained as she walked beside the door.

"Give my thanks to the Divine Cook, waiter. Let's hope we get lucky today as well, and receive more cloud burgers." the Elder spoke in a polite tone, and tried the new wine first.

The taste was exotic to say the least, and he could feel a faint taste of immortal essence, likely from a Paramita Flower, that masked the beast blood quite nicely. "Paramita Wine?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The Divine Cook has not chosen a name yet. If Paramita Wine remains, it will be my honor to have served the first bottle. This wine was especially created for our future Noble visitors, that have just arrived in the Cloud City." the waiter said in a wry tone, while glancing towards the city for a second.

"Do you expect trouble from those Nobles?" he asked while expecting to be asked for help.

There was no reason for such explanation otherwise.

"We don't tolerate trouble in this place, esteemed customer. In the worst case, the Divine Cook's beast pet will be fed better. After all, that Paramita Wine was brewed from a Bronze Realm Beast's blood. The Ten Eyed Bronze Gorgon, I believe." the waiter answered with a faint smile.

Just as she spoke, the Grand Elder felt his cultivation shift, and gain his 8th Star. He looked at the half-empty wine bottle, and almost asked for a price.

Then he remembered it was a gift, and not on the menu.

"My thanks again, Divine Cook!" the Elder said in a grateful voice, then leaned back with his eyes closed. Truly, this place was a miracle.

-------

Pef himself sat beside the Taotie in the Violet Realm, watching the old monster Devour the remains of the Bronze Gorgon and healing his missing limbs. The White Tiger was simply curled on the floor, sobbing in pain as the effects of the Gorgon's Gaze still coursed through his Law-infused body, producing tremors and soul distortions.

Lady Lia sat on the other side, looking pristine and barely scowling in soul pain. Although she died a dozen times, most of the damage was erased by her reincarnation, and only her soul still suffered a little from the Beast's Gaze Skill.

Kalima and the Silent Monk had been spared the brunt of the fight, only providing Illusions and recovery aid, and thus they only had to regain their qi, thus drinking Divine Wine like water.

Lady Yue had returned to her indigo amber bubble, and she was the only one undamaged by the terrible Bronze Gorgon. Her Divine Armor was the only one not destroyed by the Gorgon, plus she had other skills to reverse any damage if she got hit. Despite her lower realm and lack of damage skills, her time acceleration and the ensnaring time traps had helped the group finish the battle in a single night, instead of a billion years.

Pef sighed and patted his chest, while his Dragon Vest shattered into tiny shards, proof that even Dragons were not immune to the Skills of a higher realm beast.

"I will name this the Paramita Wine. I like the implications of the name." Pef decided after spitting a clot of blood from his throat, and held a bottle of wine in his right hand. The left hand was still melting in a pool of flesh and acid somewhere else in the Violet Realm, but he couldn't be bothered to regrow it yet. His soul still hurt, rather badly.

The White Tiger raised a pleading head, and nosed his silver chalice with a tired head.

"Yeah, yeah. We all deserve a new Star after this...battle. Especially the Silent Monk. We might have lost without him." Pef admitted with a pained smile, and glided the priceless wine bottle towards the old monk.

The damned Gorgon was proven far stronger than anticipated, and likely able to kill any Tier 10 cultivator that tried to face him head-on. Luckily for Pef, he had learned his lesson and didn't run out to fight a higher realm beast alone.

The monk nodded in agreement, then took a long gulp from the Paramita Wine. His face began to glow, and wrinkles on his face and neck began to vanish. The monk kept drinking until the bottle was empty. A green glow emerged from the man, and his cultivation climbed again, entering the 8th Star of his Half-Bronze Realm.