The old man made of swords sat patiently at the simple wooden table, not even drinking from the exquisite Paramita wine in front of him.

"You are not pleased with my wine?" Pef asked in a wry voice.

"I saw you. Three Bronze Realm Nobles, just vanished...I expect they are also dead?" the man asked in a flat tone, while eying the Divine Cook in front of him with sharp eyes.

Pef waved his left hand in the air, as if balancing a knife on the back of his hand. "Their long cultivation was not wasted. Three new Tier 10s will arise from this adventure."

The Sword Ancestor sighed softly, then picked his wine glass and just gulped it in one go. "I didn't know the reflection aura could be broken. Archduke Arasaka raised through the Noble ranks rapidly once he obtained that thing."

Pef nodded calmly. Truly, he could have only isolated that Noble in the Violet Realm as his own powers would have been unable to kill him, without the help of the Mirror. "No defense if impregnable. Just like these white collars." he pointed out while taking out the mind-shied Artifact from his pocket glove.

The Sword Ancestor glanced down at his own such necklace. "My Heaven-Splitting Sword can't even scratch this necklace. I even asked a Formation Master to check into it...same thing." The man didn't seem convinced.

Pef shrugged and stored the necklace. He still had much to learn before he could break the arrays on the higher tier Artifact, but he was also certain it could be done. His own Formation Dao had reached 80 percent with the latest discoveries, and he didn't intend to stop even after reaching 100 percent. Just like his Cooking or Winemaking, there were always further discoveries or enhancements possible. The Dao did not end.

"All I can say, raise your head while walking your path. That is the first step. The next step...if you will figure it out once you achieve the first." Pef said in a mild voice then returned to his cooking. Many more burgers will need to be made before his army was ready for a new Heaven War.

Foot soldiers would need to be at least Immortals. Tier 7s were the minimum of durability he would need to anchor true combat arrays, either attack or defense. As for company or regiment leaders, they would need to be even stronger.

Lots of work, even if he could extent time and transform a decade into a billion years. Plus, the Beast meat and special herbs were not unlimited. Easy enough to provide for paying customers, but not for the trillions of Ants awaiting Ascension.

-------

'Just as little Ming said, the Cook moved without moving. One moment in front of me, the next he's gone. And he left the wine bottle behind. A gift.' The Sword Ancestor mused to himself, while picking the precious Paramita wine and storing it away. It would be a waste to drink more himself. If any wine would be able to shift his cultivation realm past his 9th Star in the Bronze Realm, then he might as well abandon the sword and start brewing wine.

Meditating on the parting words of the Divine Cook, he departed from the Celestial Restaurant and slowly made his way towards the Sword Monument. To raise his head while walking the path? What did that even mean?

But as coincidence happens, the paved way that ended into a glowing sword was exactly the path he had chosen for himself. Eyes still glazed on the paved road ahead, he tried to raise his head. The whole world vanished, leaving him floating into an unending river.

"Oh? A junior has reached the Sword River? Too bad he doesn't have the Sword Soul yet." A voice spoke in mild surprise, making the man stumble and return to the mundane world. He felt exhausted and drained, like fighting a hundred Bronze duels in a row.

A young girl, barely in Nascent Realm, helped him off the path and seated him on the grass.

"Walking the Path of Swords is not that easy, old man. If cultivation was enough, everyone here would have sword-shaped souls." she spoke to him patiently, then skipped ahead, jumping easily from tile to tile like a child.

It took him a few seconds to realize, but the young girl had already obtained the second Unity, One with the World. There were millions of outer disciples in his sect that haven't even achieved that, despite their Divine cultivation realms. But to see it in a mortal, and a low ranked one at that?

His senses tracked the girl as she reached a stone mat and sat herself comfortably, then began to study the glowing monument.

As his own soul recovered, he observed the girl practice the sword without practice. Small spikes of qi confirmed she was mind fighting imaginary opponents, while the array under her supported the exercise with fresh qi gathered from the heavens.

By the time night fell, the girl had obtained a new Star, and felt even stronger in Sword Dao. At that pace, she would reach the third Unity in a year, and without losing any time cultivating. She would undoubtedly Ascend again, at least a realm if not more.

"Still feeling sick, old man?" the girl asked as she returned from the Sword Monument and passed him by.

"Who trained you, little girl?" he asked instead.

"Call me Zen. And I trained with a Saber Saint for a decade, until I surpassed the old fool. Say, wanna spar? I have some ideas to test." the girl asked in cheeky tone.

The Sword Ancestor blinked in mild surprise, and measured the girl again. Nope, still only a Nascent Realm.

"Do you even know who I am?" he asked cautiously.

"Uhm! The Divine Cook told me. A second rate sword master who needs a purpose. After I surpass you, he will give me a Copper Burger!" the girl exclaimed in a confident voice.

The Sword Ancestor blinked again. Things began to align in his mind. That advice about raising his head...it was not for free.

Most likely the wine as well. That Sword River was certainly the path he would need to take, both for his Ascension and more importantly the next stage in Sword Dao.

And training this Zen was the price. A fair deal, especially if the girl would actually surpass him one day. He had begun to lose hope with his previous disciples, even those that he trained for a thousand Chaos Cycles.

"Call me Teacher Jin. I can spare a decade." he decided with a small snort.

The girl bowed politely. "I can't afford to pay you, Teacher Jin."

"Haha! Don't worry about it. I was paid in advance." Jin said with an amused voice.