37

It had been over two months of airtime now, and Pef continued his palace building in his soul.

Qi had become a lot more plentiful as they flew away from the dreadful Rock Worm and both Pef and Xie had started growing in strength.

Xie grew at least ten times faster, but that was natural, given her lower Earth rank.

Every hour, one of them would condense atmospheric humidity and fuel the steam engine, with water and also wood from storage.

Then one day, on the horizon there were clouds and the sea changed color from deep blue to a more green tinge, and Xie woke up Pef a bit early. "Wake up hubby!"

"Oh, it's my turn already?" Pef asked with a tired voice.

"Pef, I believe we have arrived..." Xie whispered in a secretive tone.

'Have we arrived?' our valiant hero asked himself.

'It's just a large island, but part of Blue Xi. From here there's only 15 kilometers to the mainland'

"We can rest on this island. I had enough of water bending to last me years" Pef muttered while he hugged his wife.

"Oh, is the Emperor going to abuse his poor defenceless captive now?" the woman asked coyly.

"You can bet he will try. But soon after, the hero is going to arrive, and shower the princess with love." Pef murmured in a more warm and teasing tone.

A subtly different woman hugged him next, her hands pawing over him forcefully. "We should prepare for combat, Husband of ours. The wildlife will be hostile and very strong" .

Pef gritted his teeth, annoyed at being frustrated again. But combat is what he came for, so his breath slowed down, and he began circulating qi.

Two hours later, he felt full of qi energy, and his wife the same.

The steam engine had stopped, lacking fuel now. Xie armored herself just as Pef did, although she had a new Sky rank breastplate and vambraces for her forearms.

Sky rank bones took very long to soul forge, but the trip had been long enough.

Then she climbed on Pef's back and waited for descent. Her husband smiled and stored the airship, then began falling towards the rocky island below.

At 500 meters he began pushing back against gravity, slowing more and more.

Under them, howls of hungry beasts filled the island, a primordial ecosystem ruled only by the fiercest and where the weak were only food.

Pef landed with a crunch, some beast disguised as a brown boulder squelching in a shower of gore.

"You said love! A shower of love!" Xie exclaimed while jumping off and cleaning her face of guts and blood.

"Have fun my love. This place was waiting for you..." Pef said with a smirk, drawing his axe and sword from storage.

After a moment of indecision, he passed the axe to his wife, and kept the Sky rank sword.

No more wood chopping. He would need to win with skill, not superior strength.

His beloved monster smiled sweetly, waving the Sky rank axe a bit, to get used to its balance, then ran off, descending the slope at high speed.

"May the gods have mercy on their souls" the man whispered as he began jogging lightly in the opposite direction.

Beasts were plentiful, although they mostly kept to a small territory. Growls and fights were constant, but mainly on the borders of these invisible barriers.

Pef strolled through, dodging claws and snouts, and tried to make the sword move like a longer arm.

One in a hundred, the cuts were clean, and the beast died with a severed head or spine.

But most of the time, he had to back off and try again, and again.

Often, the beast would use a qi skill, like a powered howl or screech, sometimes poisonous spits or farts.

A lizard even exploded its own eyes, spraying him with corrosive blood. The glove was very amused. 'Haha, that's one skill that should be banned, right?'

Pef grumbled and cleaned his eyes with soap, then waited a few minutes to heal.

He avoided a herd of Earth rank turtles after his sword bounced off their armor carapace and walked around. He would come back later, with his wife.

A tiny parrot bit his shoulder and chipped his armor, then flew away while dodging his sword carelessly.

The hell was that green parrot?'

'An interesting beast. It usually hunts turtles. Your armor must have seem tasty'

Pef cursed and kicked away a Spirit rank wolverine. It scurried away, after smiling at Pef and licking its lips.

Glancing down, Pef noticed three long claws marks on his Sky ranked boots.

'That beast...it can claw through my armor?' Pef asked with a shudder.

The glove snorted amused 'And worse, if it's hungry'

The hero began getting worried for his wife, and flew towards her side at high speed. Another scene of devastation revealed itself, uprooted bushes and small trees, bits of animals still twitching or flopping around.

Half crushed lizards hissing while growing back their limbs, snakes split in two and trying to fuse back together.

Pef sighed and dispatched the tortured beasts, and followed the path of destruction.

On a rocky beach, he found Xie rolling over the rocks while trying to strangle a turtle to death.

Her hands were full of bite marks, and the turtle had snapped on her vambrace and wouldn't let go either.

'This is...' Pef whispered in disbelief.

'Amazing! Two beasts in a stubbornness contest. I bet the ugly one will win!'

He sat down to wait, and began to cook something to pass the time.

"I want turtle soup! And steak!" a beastly voice yelled from inside the melee bowl.

Pef smiled and shook his head. That woman...she was too much like him.

An hour later a despaired cry shook the island, and Xie emerged from battle with a turtle's leg in her hand.

She looked like she had fought a dragon and lost.

The rocky beach looked like two bulldozers had a mating dance, and won.

Most rocks were crushed and splattered with blood and spit.

The turtle was still alive, but turned upside down and missing a limb.

Xie stumbled in shaky steps and dropped next to Pef, holding proof of her victory.

Her husband smiled kindly, and plucked the meaty limb, then began cleaning and slicing bits of it into the soup.

"Good hunt, my dear wife. Keep training and our kids will never starve" he said in a deep and wise voice.

"Damn turtle...I'll have another go at it later. Just need to rest...for a year" she said in a weak voice and slumped to sleep next to Pef.

And so their first encounter with the Xi continent happened, half the small island lying in ruins around this monstrous couple.

The next day the onslaught continued, Pef taking on the more dangerous beasts, while Xie built up strength and her qi energy by butchering slightly less powerful monsters.

Three days later, the princess was also rescued by the hero, and laid in his arms to glow while she evolved. But it wasn't enough.

'How much longer?' Pef asked his trusted glove.

'A few months of Sky rank injections or kill a stronger enemy. Just cross the channel to the continent' the orange glove advised him.

'We'll stay the whole week. So many turtles here, I like turtles...' Pef mused to himself, dreaming of a pantry filled with turtle meat and Earth rank carapaces.

The glove stayed silent, as a few days wouldn't matter. Or even years. As long the recruit kept training he would still grow,

even if he wasted time with low ranked beasts.

Qi was more plentiful here, and cultivation would work even by simply breathing.

As the week ended, all the beasts with qi had been exterminated from the island, leaving only thousands of normal animals.

In time, they would birth new generations and produce rare offsprings with qi.

Pef and Xie walked above the waters to the continent, as it made good training for their water bending.

A small fisherman's village was present a few kilometers away, and they made their way there, sometimes stopping to collect Core ranked crabs or an interesting algae.

'This algae is called Blue Hou Vera. With a dozen more ingredients you can distill a pill called Blue Meridian Pill. Opens up a meridian' The glove explained as Pef observed the blue strands marking it special.

'So there are more such pills?'

'At least a dozen, for all the meridians. Though mostly nobody makes the White Meridian Pill'

'Because of polar bears...' Pef deducted in wisely manner.

As Pef and Xie approached the village, they noticed a lack of cultivators, and a slight qi pressure keeping animals away.

"They have a formation here. Like an animals ward" Pef spoke while holding a hand towards Xie.

"A good place to ask questions then" his wife concluded, while storing her weapon.

About 500 people lived here, but they had three stone buildings and a stone seawall protecting a small harbour.

It appeared a ranked cultivator had passed by and helped this village be safer.

Soon, a small delegation of three elders came out to meet the strangers.

"Outsiders?" one of them asked noticing their unfamiliar clothes and armor.

"We're from Saint continent. I'm Pef and this is Xie" the Emperor said in a gentle voice.

"Hmpf. Keep your head low and don't cause trouble. The Emperor of the Tan Ang Province doesn't tolerate trouble makers" another elder said with a warning tone.

"No problem, elder. I enjoy cooking, would you like me to make some turtle soup?" Pef asked with a shrug.

The elders deliberated for a few seconds. "The woman tastes it first. Bad food might make us sick" the last one declared in a cautious manner.

Xie smiled in agreement. Of course she will taste it first. It was her right!

A few hours later, the village was served a feast, people lining up with bowls made of wood or sea shell. Pef had used all 5 brass stoves and large copper cauldrons to produce this wonder, and some abilities were revealed.

The mood became somewhat less grumpy as the amazing soup filled the air with delicious smells and the stomachs with divine nectar.

"You have storage rings, like the Xi soldiers" a woman observed as Pef began storing his brass stoves and implements.

"And you can drain water from the air, like combat mages!" a child yelled excited.

"Where are the cultivators then?" Pef asked gently.

"Well, training at the soldier schools, or patrolling, maybe at the Wall..." another villager mused a bit loud.

"This wall, is it tall and made of stone, going for thousands of kilometers?" Pef asked, thinking about a similar wall somewhere.

"We haven't seen it, but it's more of a long hill, with a river going along it. There are stone towers too!" the child explained with a wide grin.

Pef nodded and smiled. "And the capital, how far is it?"

"By boat maybe 3 months? Much less if you can fly, I guess..." the nice woman explained in an uncertain and wistful voice.

"We better go to Tan Ang. Start small..." Xie said in a whisper.

Pef held out his hand and hugged Xie waist, then jumped raising rapidly in the air.

Around 3000 meters he took his bearings and accelerated, crossing 50 kilometers in 5 minutes. Then he took out the airship and rested, while Xie looked around for clues.

"It's all fields and small towns, straight canals going east" she announced in a wondering tone.

But Pef knew what to expect. He was kinda doing the same thing to his home continent. Very slowly.

He picked a small town as a target and steered towards it.

'Armed garrison present, 500 troops. One Earth rank and 3 Spirit ranks' the glove reported as it noticed the direction Pef was taking.

For a random small town this was amazing. Better than any town back home had, except the capital.

And this Xi Empire had maybe thousands and thousands of such towns, plus whatever forces they had in larger towns or the wall.

Pef circled above, then stored the ship and began falling down slowly, while hugging Xie with one arm.

As they landed, they were expected by the Earth ranker, short-haired woman with a white aura, wearing a decorative armor with bazeliefs and paints on it. She had a small escort, a Spirit ranked youngster and a dozen guards at Core rank.

"Hello there, Lady. I am Pef, and my..."

"Flying without permit? What unit are you from? Are you even a Xi soldier?" the garrison commander interjected loudly.

"Let me fight her, Pef. She looks strong!" Xie demanded, in a not so small voice.

The lady guard raised an eyebrow, her face unbelieving.

Pef shrugged and flew away a bit, getting out of the splatter range .

Xie jumped ahead, drawing out her Earth ranked spiked maul, and shattering the stones of the plaza as she missed the first hit.

"Fools! You will get 100 lashes and maybe even...guh!" the woman cried, as Xie smashed her stomach with the maul.

Pef landed next to her escort, and patted the youngster on his back. "Women, right? So violent, all the time..." he said in a commiserating voice.

The man began to nod in agreement before noticing it was their capture target. "You! Attacking the Emperor's soldiers is treason. You will both get lashed and then sent to the wall! Maybe worse, beyond the wall!"

"You worry too much, my friend. Relax, enjoy watching the women fighting for our pleasure..." Pef said in an easy going tone. He then took out a wooden bench and sat down, pulling the man to sit, next to him.

Weapons swirled and screeched, even a few magic spells in between them. Sparks exploded when weapons were parried, or when they hit the armor of their target. The plaza however was slowly getting ruined, blocks of stone crushed and pulverized, the locals standing away at a safe distance.

"My boss is slowly winning though" the adjutant noticed as Xie was pushed back now.

"Great! My wife's head is too big anyway. She needs to lose sometimes. Beer?" Pef said while holding two tankards up, and already drinking from his own.

"You're too kind, sir. But I'm during service..." The Spirit rank guard muttered with thirsty eyes.

"Oh. I have orange juice...plenty of vitamins" Pef exclaimed and squeezed two oranges for his new friend.

The guard sipped cautiously, then with an awed face.

"Today is the best day ever! I get to watch Lady Erin fight, and I drank a miraculous elixir!" he exclaimed in nearly delirious joy.

"Lady Erin, eh? Is she married, or such?" our hero asked innocently.

"Haha, married to the job maybe. Never looks at anyone, even a nice guy like myself..." the guard complained,maybe a bit too loud.

The fight stopped, as the women had mostly depleted their qi with fancy magics. And now they both heard the guard's words, and guessed the context.

Xie drew air and yelled: "Pef, you scoundrel! Can't you wait for the fight to end, before you scout out the competition?"

Lady Erin was more polite, simply gesturing with a finger over her neck. Her guard gulped in fear and looked towards Pef for help.

"Such a nice little town though. I bet Lady Erin was bored, not having anyone to spar with. Me and my wife appreciate your gracefulness, and will gladly disburse the repairs cost" Pef proclaimed loudly, holding his beer tankard up.

The Core ranks behind him applauded with ecstatic smiles, as they likely never seen Lady Erin go all out either.

The woman clenched her fists and muttered: "Men are all idiots!"

A second later, a cheerful Xie hugged her waist, leaning on the garrison commander for balance. "Yeah, they are...come let's go to your barracks or whatever, my hubby will cook something for us, and we can fight again tomorrow."

"You...want to fight with me again?" Erin asked in disbelief.

"Of course. But somewhere more private, my clothes are all torn up..." Xie whispered in fake shame.

Not like she cared anymore, who saw her body...but Pef had a face to maintain, even if he didn't know what that was.

"Ah...nobody wanted to spar with me willingly...since first year in soldier school..." Erin sobbed in joy.

"You have such nice weapons though. That warhammer, the spear and the sword...was it Sky rank?" Xie asked as they slowly walked towards the barracks.

Erin held the sword up for a second, proud of the relic. "Yeah, just like that beautiful axe of yours. Although the maul hits harder..."

"I know, right? It's kinda heavy though, so I miss sometimes..." Xie grinned.

"Yea, my hammer is heavy as well...but when it hits, you feel it!"

"Haha, I surely did. I think you broke my rib..." Xie chuckled with a pained grimace.

"Look who's talking! My chest is a mess..."

"Hey, I'm Xie." she offered as a sign of friendship.

"I'm Erin. Nice to meet you...Your husband seems, awfully young. Doesn't look like a thousand years old Sky rank..."

Xie turned her head and checked Pef out "Yea...he's 18, so he looks the right age..."

"What?" Lady Erin yelled in shock.

Xie smirked and grinned. It was always nice to shock people with her husband's feats.