Hours later, a gleaming-eyed Pef strolled out from the Imperial Vault then closed his hand, making the entire cave vanish into his belt bottle.

It would make great gift for his wife Kalima, and others who studied the Dao of Illusions. The broken Eternium door was even more valuable, if his guess was right. Even that Tier 12 fisherman seemed to appreciate his Eternium necklace.

As for the precious Primordial Fiend Horn that he found at the end of the vault, he planned to use it on the glove itself, and grant it a true Tier 11 Realm. The High Heavens would be dangerous enough, even with the orange glove on his side.

"Where is...?" the tiger asked as a deformed pie of bones and meat crashed at his feet.

"Master is merciful. Master is great!" The pile of broken bones and mangled flesh proclaimed as it began to reassemble into his familiar badger shape.

"Already 7 Stars." the Bee Queen observed in calm voice.

Pef shrugged as he climbed on the back of the Old Bee. "This is yours" he said in a careless tone, while flicking one of the last Pure Gingseng roots toward the White Tiger.

The tiger didn't need to be told twice, as he gulped the priceless root and flew after Pef.

"But, I found it..." the Taotie muttered in a despondent voice, as he flew after the rest, already healed in body. His spirit was still a bit warped by the Silent Monk's punishment, but the beast had endured far worse before. Two Stars in two minutes were worth far more punishment anyway.

Truly, Pef was quite a kind and merciful master. He wasn't even skinned alive!

As they reached the outward barrier, the group stopped to allow the White Tiger to complete his Tribulation and rejoin the group as a proper Tier 10 powerhouse, and Pef even gifted him a bowl of Royal Honey to increase his resilience.

"You waste the honey on this little tiger, Master Pef. For a Godbeast to reach another body level, he would need at least twenty full vats. A Body of Laws doesn't upgrade cheaply." the Bee Queen buzzed in a sad voice.

Pef took note of the advice, but still watched calmly as the Godbeast evolved, and cleverly used the energy of the Royal Honey to withstand the Tribulation with ease. And only 81 Lightning Bolts as well, a pitance compared to the Taotie's 1008 strikes punishment.

Obviously, Godbeasts were favored by the Heavens, but this was pure discrimination.

"I'll need a few liters of blood, your Majesty." Pef demanded politely, as the tiger shook to scatter the ash from his perfect white fur.

The White Tiger froze for a second, then sighed and filled his metal bowl with his precious Godbeast blood. He didn't want to end up mangled like the far more powerful Taotie. Standing between the Divine Cook and his urge to cook another incredible recipe was foolishness, as proven by the Bee Queen ridden by Pef right now.

As Pef turned towards the Taotie, the beast had already slashed his veins open and was bleeding out a ton of Tier 10 blood in a blood sphere.

"Hmm. Good, but not enough. A thousand tonnes of blood from you, old badger. Just be glad I don't skin you alive." the blonde monster added curtly, making the Taotie shiver. He did get away easily, after all.

The Bee Queen chuckled amused, then froze as Pef tapped her head. "A pair of wings from you, Old Queen. Or did you think you'll get a free ride into next Heaven?"

The White Tiger almost burst into laughter, before thinking twice and staying silent. Being skinned alive didn't sound fun.

Pef just nodded as the Bee Queen discarded a pair of nigh-unbreakable translucent wings, and just stored them into his glove pocket.

As his crafting selves began working on new recipes and artifacts with all the loot he gained from this adventure, the glove began assembling a path towards the Mercy Emperor, compiling data gathered from all over the Imperial Capital. Troop movements, coin transfers, bribes and killed officials. This and more data converged into a targetting solution, indicating a rushed escape from the second the Mercy Seat vanished from the Imperial Palace.

'See, here. Two Imperial regiments moved away, leaving a path for something to pass undetected. The guards of this border post were given paid vacation. Two custom inspectors at the spaceport died of cultivation divergence. A spacepilot of the Merchant Guild received a hefty inheritance.' the glove explained, while dotting a line from the Capital to a distant Starfield, inhabited only by beasts and pirates.

'There is nothing there. We have the Legion Scout report from the Four Winds Starfield. Not even precious minerals.' Pef hummed inward.

'Yes. But, in the times before the World Tree fell, there was a first tier Sect here. Named the Four Winds as well. And not too surprisingly, they had 4 Tier 10 cultivators, all experts in Wind Dao.' the glove added in a wry tone.

"Four Winds." Pef said in a soft voice.

"Still alive, huh?" the Old Bee deduced in a second.

"I'd guess at least two of them. Maybe even the Mercy Emperor himself." Pef confirmed in a certain tone.

"They were amazingly fast, those four. Somehow they improved the Wind Dao to another level." the Bee Queen reminesced in a far away voice.

'Figures. Speed is my lowest stat right now.' Pef complained inward.

Pef's Avatar in the Indigo Realm finished relating the news to the General, and her eyes began to glow with silver light.

"Again, Pef Xi? You manage to stumble and reveal such a giant conspiracy without a single clue. The Heaven must love idiots." she said in an almost amused voice.

"What? What did I do?" Pef muttered in confusion.

"My question is, can you defeat a Tier 11 cultivator?" the General asked in a serious tone.

"Errr. I think so. If I use a special trick..." Pef answered after a long minute. He did have that Tier 12 bottle.

"Hmm. Always surprising, aren't you a special soul? Then again, I get what I asked for, don't I?" the General said in a cryptic voice.

"See, there is a huge problem with this trick. People from upstairs might get involved..."Pef added as to explain his predicament without going into delicate details.

"People from upstairs are already involved, my dear Soldier. You said it yourself, there are three Wind cultivators hiding inside the Four Winds home. I don't even need my Oracle skill to discern where the fourth one is." the General proclaimed in a certain voice.

"Ah. Makes sense now. They went to ask for help from their big brother upstairs. Very well, I'll take care of him too." Pef replied in a resigned voice. This was going to suck. A Patriarch in Tier 11 was already a thousand times stronger than an Overgod in Tier 10. But these guys were also super fast.

'We do have those Speed Pills...' the glove offered as aid.

'Damn it. Are we being played by a higher power?' Pef wondered in a sad tone. Having the exact counter for a specific opponent reeked of planned interference. That fisherman surely planned deep.

'Would you prefer not to have the bottle and pills?' the glove answered in a careless tone.

'I guess not. We have a good chance like this. Let's go finish this and conquer the heavens!' Pef proclaimed heroically in his mind.