58

Pef held his hand in front of his eyes, watching sunlight filter through, like qi would flow through as well.

He was close to the peak, like he might stumble and cross over with a tumble.

'So, how much more from here?' Pef asked, to make sure.

'A year or a decade. You don't always listen, do you, Aspirant?' his system chided him.

Pef nodded to himself. It was true, he didn't always listen. But he was still alive, which meant more to himself.

There were thousands of dead Xi Emperors, littering the planet with their corpses, and only 31 still alive. The glove was a harsh mistress, and obeying blindly wasn't an answer.

It wasn't like it always came with a perfect attack plan and impossibly accurate arrows.

Sometimes, it just waited for the recruit to find a solution or invent one, if nothing was at hand.

No wonder even people on the Saint continent knew of his bloodline as maniacs, fighting everything and dying when they took on too much.

People like Ventu or Lithos were the lucky exceptions, one in a thousand who passed the trials, mostly by amazing skills and practice.

Pef rose and sketched a few moves, the knife coming alive and dancing happy in his hand. So much stronger and faster, it was unbelievable!

He jumped, and turned into a spin kick, freezing himself just at the moment of projected impact.

His body moved flawlessly, not a millimeter out of balance.

Then he landed softly and turned towards his uncle. "Pretty good for my 19 years. Right?"

The old man smiled and nodded a bit. For just 19 years, it was quite good. The old Patriarch had him run around with a sack of stones on his back, at that age, to build character. He still remembered the pain and suffering, although it had been so many years. Almost like the blue pill had felt when he ate his.

And he was 21 when he formed his Core. The boy was special, that was true, even with the glove to whisper some secret clue sometimes. Like 'The behind of the turtle has less armor.' While true, it didn't mean you had to stick your sword in there, and lose it. And then, be chased away by an angry turtle...

"So, we're going to smith all this copper now?" the Tyrant asked glancing at the small hill of minerals.

"Yeah, but not here. I have facilities in the capital. We can process all this ore in a week, instead of a year" Pef replied with a smile, patting the hill and making it vanish in his glove.

"Wait, you mean to leave? Now?" the man asked in a bit of fright.

"Don't worry, Lithos. You're with me, what can happen?" Pef answered with a smile, scooping the stoves and even the pills and running away.

The Tyrant caught his cauldron before it hit the ground, and checked it worried for any scratch.

Then his qi surged and he sped after the boy, noting with amusement that Pef had taken the wrong mountain pass. There was a Tyrant Mountain Goat there, that he sometimes milked...no!

He accelerated at his best speed, but arrived too late. The boy was already skinning and butchering his old milk factory.

"Hey Lithos. Look what I found! I thought Tyrant beasts were strong, but this goat died at my first pass!" Pef explained in a cheerful tone.

The old Earth Tyrant died a bit that day, knowing he would never drink that nourishing goat milk.

"Yeah...I kept it around for milk. You owe me five meals already, and we haven't even left the Sky Crown" the old man demanded in a sobbing manner.

Pef blinked, his face changing from triumphant to abject. "I'll save the udder for you, uncle. There's like a dozen liters of milk in there..."

Lithos sighed and started helping the boy cut and store the meat. No point crying after spoiled milk, anyway.

'You made me kill his goat!' Pef exclaimed inside, while petting the wonderful Tyrant ranked horns. He could craft something amazing from them.

'A Sovereign ranked beast would have trampled the Wall and then a hundred towns in hours. Not safe to keep it around.' the glove answered in a serious and stern tone.

Pef sighed and agreed. By removing the guardian from the mountains, there was always the risk of this beast being sent on a rampage. Plus, he got his first Tyrant kill!

Even though the goat just stayed there and was cut down in a single swipe.

Possibly it had become so complacent at being milked by the old monster, it had forgotten humans were dangerous.

At least humans armed with Legion neo blades, as an Emperor ranked sword might not have cut through the shaggy long fur.

In a few hours, the two relatives arrived at the Drummer Inn, and Pef scanned two extra Sky ranks.

He strolled inside, noting the bustle of activity, his crew hard at work soul smithing bones or cooking, cleaning and drinking wine, if they were women.

"This is...your staff?" Lithos asked a bit confused.

Pef patted his back in a friendly manner. "Xie, Erin and Pela are my wives. Remi is my sister, and Lara...my new staff, I guess" he explained pointing at the drinking women.

"Ah, the golden aura. Makes sense now. Well, I'm going to see Ventu, but I'll be back tomorrow, nephew" the old Tyrant said softly, then vanished in a blink, before the screaming started.

Lithos had been married before, so he had practice at running away, and coming back when tempers had flared down.

Five pairs of eyes turned towards Pef, possibly after the Tyrant had surged his qi for a quick step escape.

"Husband! You're back! And much stronger again..." Xie observed with a tiny flash of silver in her eyes.

"Yeah...I killed this Tyrant old goat..." Pef muttered in shame.

"What! Who did you kill?" Erin yelled in panic.

"A Mountain Goat, of Tyrant rank" Pef rephrased his answer, and took out the horns as proof.

The five women nodded and sighed in relief. "Hey brother. So, the Air Tyrant transferred us to your staff..." Remi explained in a kinda threatening manner.

"Great! He must have forgiven me then. Or maybe he wants another spar?" Pef asked himself, while scratching his cheek and sitting down to drink some wine.

Lara glanced around, not yet knowing why would any Tyrant want another spar with an Emperor, even if he was quite strong, for an Emperor.

"Stop beating old men, Pef. Next time, you might kill him by accident. How many hits did that Tyrant Mountain Goat take?" Xie asked with an ulterior motive.

"Errr. One hit, but..." Pef answered with a shrug.

"No buts! The Blue continent needs these men, Pef. And they can't grow back their heads..." Xie ordered Pef in a stern voice.

Pef nodded meekly and drank his wine in silence, while the new recruits were suitably impressed.

Erin got to play storyteller and recount how evil Pef beat up Tyrant Ventu and broke his arm, while he got also beaten and bruised and thrashed thousands of trees being kicked around.

Lara's blue eyes twinkled a little, and eyed Pef with some quite amazed face.

"So, I got these pills while I went out...one for each of you." Pef added after the story was over. He placed five Blue Meridian Pills on the table, and smiled sweetly.

Remi had heard of the pill, as her own father had tried to get one and didn't succeed. And her brother just got five of them?

"Pef, these are super precious. Emperors would beg, for one of them!" Remi yelled, and not begging at all.

"No problem, I got some more. Go ahead and take one, each of you. It works wonders for your qi" Pef said gesturing the women to eat them already.

They all placed them hesitantly in their mouths, expecting something to happen.

"Swallow and hold your teeth clenched. If you scream, you lose a rank..." Pef explained in a wisely manner.

Pef waited a few seconds, until the blue lights exploded from their eyes.

Then he turned around and left, closing the heavy wooden door, just as Major Wu came to inspect the comotion.

"Ah Major! You met the new girls?" Pef asked with a smile.

The Major nodded firmly and said: "Yes sir. Your sister and your future..."

"Right! So, is my sister pretty?" Pef asked in a cheerful voice.

"Of course, sir! She's quite a beauty and very strong as well. Remi needs more practice, but she will live for..."

"Millions of years, I know. Do you like her, Wu?" Pef asked more interested.

"Errr. I haven't...well. Remi is quite...but it's her choice as well, right?" The man wondered a bit hesitant. He would do fine then. His sister was fickle and a bit spoiled, but she needed a good man to care for her.

"I am leaving soon, Major. And Remi will need a bodyguard and a friend, as she Awakens. Just be kind, it's all"

Pef whispered as he passed him by, heading for the kitchen.

The girls will need some nice food after that ordeal, and he had some brand new goat meat to try out.

Then he thought better and went with brain pane and spider legs. He will test the goat on the old Tyrant, not on his wives.

Major Wu waited for a minute to collect his thoughts, before he entered the kitchen, and started helping with the dinner.

He would need to feed the Emperor's sister fine food, and got the gist anyway.

Pef wanted his sister to be safe, from possible Xi members that objected to her new rank. Which meant, they'll have to go into hiding, somewhere far. Like the Saint continent.

Then come back much later, after Pef had consolidated his new powers, and Remi had ascended to Empress.

And if somehow Remi liked him back...

"Stop blushing, Wu! Pass me the salt, and the garlic!" the tyrannical Emperor demanded without even turning his head.

"It's been like 300 years, sir. I'm not sure how the things work..." Wu muttered with his face burning hot.

Pef flipped the brain slices in the pan, adding salt and some garlic mix. "Pretty sure those things never change, Major. Though I will leave you a stipend, for extra expenses, like clothes and jewelry and wine. Remi likes wine." Pef whispered in fake secrecy.

Both men nodded, a bit afraid. Drunk women were scary.

Then again, drunk women were a bit more easy to...

"Go set the table, Wu. Your thoughts make me blush!" Pef exclaimed outraged, although the Major hadn't said anything.

Wu nodded with guilt and ran off to set the large table in the guest room.

'That was mean, Aspirant! You can't read thoughts yet.' the glove said with an amused tone.

'Eh. Boys will be boys. If I think it, so is he!' the chef replied with a head shake, and a wicked smile.

He had a plan to woo Lara now. Just needed the right moment and timing.