72

The arctic storm went on for a week, and the three poor cultivators had to take shelter in an improvised igloo, and eat cold rations.

Then they had to keep themselves warm with arduous cultivation, over a bed of furs. In fact, it was almost a winter vacation.

The igloo was quite hot and steamy inside, by the time clear weather returned outside.

To Pef's surprise though, when he dismantled an ice wall and checked the surroundings, he noticed a certain fiery fairy hopping around and picking flowers.

"My beloved firebird, you missed me that much?" Pef wondered in a loud voice.

Lady Yuan turned to measure him for a second, from head to toes, then blushed and turned away. "You're still naked, Pef. Your meager bits might freeze and fall off."

Our hero started dressing and armoring while his wives snickered behind him, for some reason. What? It was quite hot inside that igloo. And he wouldn't freeze right away, as he had qi and all.

When he was ready, which took about 10 seconds, he rushed to see what brought the icy hearted, but hot wife all the way here. "You must have placed a formation on me, to find me so easy..." he mused while observing the silvery grass that Yuan was collecting.

'That's White Silver grass. You'll need about 200 of them.' the glove added helpfully.

Pef nodded at the reasonable naming convention, and began picking the longest strains of grass, leaving the small ones to grow and become whatever they did as big grass.

When her task was complete, the Sovereign appeared next to Pef in a single step. "A good friend shields you from the storm"

she declared with a faint mystical voice, then glanced towards her sisters.

Xia replied with a similar voice, maybe even more profound, "Do not climb a tree to look for fish."

Lady Lin held a finger up, possibly thinking a weird line of her own. "Talk doesn't cook rice." she proclaimed after failing to find anything fitting.

Pef slapped his stupid forehead, then began setting up a stove and cooking a real meal. Fish and rice, it wasn't so hard.

Poor women must be tired of cold maize and taking shelter from the storm.

"Well, at least our husband is useful." Xia said in a mild chuckle. The other wives joined, the laughter, not helping him cook the meal.

Still, once the lunch was served, in a picnic kind of way, Pef had an inspiration from his old life. "If you immediately realize that candlelight is fire, the meal was cooked a long time ago."

The wives nodded a bit confused.

'You haven't invented candles yet, Aspirant.' the glove commented helpfully.

"Sunlight or firelight works instead fine." he added as an explanation.

Lady Yuan summoned her sprite and confirmed that firelight is fire. And the meal was cooked indeed.

The other wives glanced at the sun, Lady Lin a bit unsure. "You're saying the sun is made of fire?" she asked a bit wary.

"Yes, my dear smith. White hot flame, enough to melt anything getting too close." Pef replied with a finger on the ice. He sensed a tiny animal approaching, attracted by the smell no doubt.

His knife came to his right hand instantly, as he caught the white furred animal in his left, and looked at it curious, sensing only a mere Sky rank.

'Snow White Divine Fox...' he heard before blacking out.

"He is really funny, isn't he?" Pef heard his wives snicker while he slept off the soul spike, and they skinned and chopped off his assailant.

"He did fly like 400 meters after that purple beam hit him." Lady Yuan added as well, sizzling a bit of fox meat in her sprite then nibbling it gently.

Pef rose and taste of bit from Yuan's cooked portion, then turned towards Lin, who was still only an Emperor rank.

"You would have probably died, if the fox hit you, Lady Lin. Divine beasts have strong soul attacks." he explained in a grave voice.

The mood fell a bit after that. "It hit me as well, but felt like warm slap." The Fire Sovereign said with a more neutral voice.

'Let me know next time, dear glove. Or I will use my puppy to draw graffiti on your skin.' Pef muttered inward, as his knife emerged in his hand.

'Fine! No more harmless jokes, when fragile wives are at risk.' The glove exclaimed in a gruff tone.

The hunt for more White pill ingredients continued, a bit easier now that the glove guided them around vicious beasts of small size but deadly skills.

Until it didn't, making them meet face to face with a family of polar bears, the two parents Sovereigns and the five pups Emperors.

Yuan exploded into action, fire qi condensing into her beautiful wings, and she began slashing the mother bear away, leaving Pef to deal with the huge Sovereign, whose claws were bigger than the poor hero.

He had one chance, one shot, and he took it, the second the triangle reticle blinked. The knife appeared in his hand, then time stopped, and his Cutting skill sliced the space-time in a smooth move, the planar white beam entering the enormous mouth and exiting the other side, and making the top half of this polar bear skull to fall off.

He jumped away the next second, avoiding the falling paw and kicking Lin towards one of the pups and to safety.

Xie parried the claw coming her way, with moderate success, her arm breaking audibly while she jumped to the side.

Pef had about two seconds left, feeling the Heavenly Lightning gather above. He sped to his maximum speed, reaching the other Sovereign bear, and stabbing his knife in the beast's belly.

The another blinding light, as the divine punishment pierced through the bear, and impacted his bloody knife, then his glove, and coursed along his meridians into Pef's dantian. A loud howl qi skill emerged from the bear, making Yuan stumble, but she wasn't being electrocuted, only the bear and Pef.

It lasted perhaps a second or two, but it felt like hours. Pef kept trying to compress the precious divine qi, adding it to his reserves, while the bear turned, and sliced her belly open with the immensely sharp blade of the Legion knife.

It wasn't a deadly blow yet, as Sovereigns were stupidly resilient, even when electrocuted and eviscerated.

Yuan sped by, grabbing the still convulsing Tyrant and taking him a kilometer away from the beast.

"W-wait, my lady. Just wait, a minute. Go bring the girls here." Pef muttered in a bit of stutter.

In 5 seconds, the group was back together, and Pef held the knife from the blade and offered it to Lin. The puppy didn't want to obey, and wiggled a bit, just enough to bloody his fingers really bad.

The Emperor rank smith took the knife hesitantly, but then the puppy calmed down a bit. "Are you sure, Pef?" she asked in a scared voice.

"Stab your palm, to let him feel safe. Then, we go hunting a big bear!" The Tyrant proclaimed cheerfully, as the knife bit gently into Lin's left hand.

It wanted to hunt a big bear again, even if by a female proxy.

When Pef finished compressing the heavenly qi, he took a deep breath, then grabbed Lin's ankle and sped forward.

A firestream from Yuan blinded the Major Ursa Polaris, just a second, but enough for Pef to reach above the bear's head, and wave Lin in a circle and then a cross, then stab with her body like a lance, with a Legion knife as a spearhead.

The bear's skull cracked like weakened ice, and Lin got to see the Sovereign bear's last thoughts, from inside.

Then Pef began storing the precious beasts, while a new Tyrant wife chased after the Emperor ranked pups for more amazing bones and soft fur.

In a few minutes they returned next to the wounded Xie and the Fire Disciple.

"Now, that's what I call roaming!" Pef declared satisfied, falling on his back next to Xie.

"Sooo many bones, and even Sovereign bones. Oh, my husband, you're not leaving your bed for a year!" Lin proclaimed satisfied, resting her bloody helmet on Pef's chest.

"You'll need to do your special cultivation for me, hubby. Until my arm heals..." Xie said in a pained voice.

Lady Yuan sat cross legged a couple of meters away, and despaired. Her new family was made only of horny morons!

Well perhaps a bit less Tyrant Lia. That woman had a good head, despite her young 600 years.

But seeing how her husband upgraded his wives, she couldn't fault Lia for choosing the more pleasant method.

Or, Pef would have bashed that Locust Sovereign with her body, like he did to that poor 200 meters long mama bear.

'Thanks, my orange glove, this hunt was really fun!' Pef remembered to thank his helpful system.

'Don't mention it, Aspirant. So, you want to finish collecting the last White herb, or go after a Monarch Black and White Arctic Orca?' the glove asked curious.

Pef thought for a few seconds, while petting his knife.

'My puppy needs sharper teeth, I think. And I need at least my Sovereign rank. The White Pill should do it, right?'

'Most likely, yes. And more Practice, to make sure.' the glove admitted in a more serene voice.

The young hero sighed in acceptance. Perhaps 22 years old was a bit too soon for his Sovereign rank.

He should train another year, at least.

After an hour of rest, and some fresh bear grilled meat, the group arrived at a hot geyser surrounded by icy mountains and endless snow.

Pef poked a finger inside, deciding rapidly it was really hot and boiling water.

'What now?' he asked in a wary manner.

'The White Hot Ice Lotus, is somewhere deep in there. Good luck, Aspirant!' the glove replied with a snicker.

Pef turned around, as Lin already sat down to forge some bones, Xie as well, only with her left arm in a ice cast, and the Fire Sovereign watched him with unsure face.

"You're planning to go in there?" She asked with a doubtful tone, as it was lots of boiling water. Like a hot waterfall, falling upwards.

"I am a Water Tyrant, my beloved fairy. It's time to jump in the well, like all good frogs do." Pef said wisely, and plunged head first into the boiling geyser.

"He's so fun, isn't he?" Lady Lin asked to cover his screams.

"And when he climbs the waterfall, he does it downwards. I fear our dear husband may emerge as a carp, instead of a dragon." the silver eyed wife said in her profound voice, then went back at forging the damned bear claw that broke her hand, and make herself a truly nice spiked hammer.

He will be fine. Water is his domain. Even if it's boiling hot and flowing upwards, Lady Yuan muttered to herself.