Chương 154: The Sage returns

Much like the pill room below, the herb room had a bunch of annoying rules dependent on my cultivation level. One herb of Sage realm, 1000 Saint herbs, 10000 Tier 5, and unlimited Tier 4 or below. It was obviously an artificial limit. If I ever returned as a Dao King, I could take 1000 Sage-grade herbs, instead of just one. The guardians would scale up as well, and the lion outside would be the size and strength of a small moon.

"So, a Nether Fire Azalea is the best Tier 7 herb I can get?" I asked the stone lotus, who managed to nod without a head.

"An Icefire Lotus would be much better, but we don't have that here. And if you want a Bluefire Azalea for that pretty lady outside, you will need a Dao King realm first." the stone guardian answered with an ironic voice. Yeah, whatever these stone constructs were, to see outside a Secret Realm was impossible even for a Quasi-Emperor. Tian had tried and failed.

"You mean my Dao King wife with a Bluefire Sacred Body? Her name is Blue Rose, and she's an Elder in the Million Flowers Valley. I plan to take Luoli there as well. Might get a flower name like Purple Phacelia if she joins us." I explained in a far more polite voice.

"The one with toxic spikes... haha! It would be a better nickname than the Walking Storm. Pef Tian, your life will change quite dramatically if you marry the purple monster. Then again, to be the first man to tap that amazing... nevermind. I only have 24 kalpas left to serve on my sentence. Don't want to add extra years, you know?" the stone lotus spoke like a striped prisoner forced to carry out community service. This answered a question, and opened up many more.

"The way out still that square pool at level B1, right?" I asked like an old visitor who forgot too much. The stone lotus nodded unconsciously, and handed me my last storage ring, filled with a billion low tier herbs and a few more at higher tier.

"That Guan Saint escaped too fast. Took one glance at the level 1 guardian and ran the other way, and stumbled into the pool. Then again, I sense the karma of 28 Guan women on your dick. I think you gained much more from that knowledge than he did." This was getting too personal, and a bit immoral.

"So what happens if I kill a Sage guardian? Do you respawn? Jump into a similar flower or what?" I asked curious, and perhaps a bit menacing. I was fairly sure I could kill a single Sage stone guardian, with my Tier 7 Sword and Tian's Sun-Eater technique. A black hole was pretty dangerous to a Sage.

"Yes. Death is not the end of my sentence. Luoli escaped with a clever oath, but not all of us were so smart." the stone lotus added with a sad voice. I sighed inward, since Pef's paranoia was almost too small. See, people always wondered what happens after someone ascends, and sheds the mortal coil. Did they go to have eternal fun, hunting in the Greek Elysian Fields, or the happy hunting grounds of the Mohicans? Now I knew, and didn't like the answer one bit.

I waved a sad goodbye to the trapped guardian and flew down, passing the monkey and the bear and a nine-tailed stone fox drinking from the pool, who seemed surprised I was still alive.

"Weren't you supposed to guard the 9th level?" I asked with a joking voice, and jumped into the Pharaoh's pool.

"Wait!" the fox yelled but I was being converted into Dao particles and sent away faster than the speed of darkness. I stumbled outside the tunel, and Blue Rose appeared to check my health.

"Why is your bone age still 20? It's been 7 years since you entered!" she asked with surprise. Damn it! The time-warp pyramid was even more dangerous than I thought.

"I found the lady of the lake. Luoli wants to marry me, when she wakes up." I answered with a lighter voice, and kissed Rose hard.

"Of course she does!" Rose muttered with a glance at the Emerald Lake, which vanished as soon as she spoke. The Secret Realm was now closed and may open again in 99 years. Or maybe 999 years. Probably the latter. I didn't get to pull Excalibur from the lake, but I might have got something better.

"Come, we're going home to my farm. My parents should meet my pretty wife." I decided on a whim, mostly because I did have enough spirit stones now to travel back and forth to my home continent a million times. A few seconds later, we entered the teleport formation called an Ancient Gate and appeared on the Azure Plains continent. Home sweet home!

"There's a Saint King that way!" Blue Rose said after scanning the small continent in a few seconds.

"Tingling, yes. But first, Blue Lotus Sect, and a small village nearby." I whispered with a strange homesickness coming from the original Pef Tian. In a few seconds we appeared at my home, where I saw my father kiss another woman, not my mother. A stone grave marked her fate. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. I knelt at the grave and sighed aloud.

A metal bell announced Red Betty who smelled me and came to nudge my head like I was away for a decade and just returned.

"Hey Betty. Hey Mom. This is Blue Rose, my wife. She's very pretty..." I introduced the Dao King to my dead mother and my still alive cow.

"Mooo!" Betty approved and nudged Rose as well.

"Your step-mother is a demonic cultivator." Rose added with a sad voice. I sighed inward and went inside the house.

"Hey dad. You look well." I told my father, or rather Pef Tian's father.

"Tian! Qin Lin said you went to a different continent and may not return for a century. I never thought I'll see you again! This is Di Wei, my new wife." father exclaimed and ran to hug me. I glanced at the demonic woman, who knelt and bowed.

"She's a demonic spy, not your wife."

"I had no choice, Divine ones! I was ordered to seduce..." she began to say, then vanished with Rose.

"I'll stay a few days and exterminate all demonic cultivators on the continent, dad. And I'll find you a new wife, or ten. Let's go see my siblings first." I spoke with a sad voice, and took dad on a fast trip, and gathered the kids scattered in the village to mom's grave.

"I am your big brother, Pef Tian. As you can see, I became a pretty strong cultivator, in Sage Realm." I told the seven kids. Mom had been quite fertile in my absence, and even before.

"Did you bring us gifts? Qin Lin gave each of us a bag of silver!" a teenage boy exclaimed with an eager voice. Qin Lin could have given each of them a box of gold, and it wouldn't matter. They were only mortals. All of them. I nodded slowly.

"Anything you want, I can give you." One by one, my siblings began to ask for fancy things, from a sword made of gold, to a big farm and 20 cows. Easy to do, harder to keep. The youngest one was a girl, maybe 7 or 8 years old.

"Can I join an immortal sect?" she asked instead.

"You can, but you're not a cultivator. Maybe as a cook, or dressmaker?" I offered with a smile.

"Making dresses for fairies? That seems fun! I want that!" the girl asked, and received my honest smile. Rin could use a helping hand.

"I could use a couple more cows and some grassland. And I won't mind several young wives..." dad spoke last, proving we shared the same blood. He had grey temples, but still wanted more wives. Damn horny dog! I smiled inward, thinking of a long-term bodyguard mission for the Blue Stars. Two or three decades of living as a mortal on a farm would help all of them understand the Dao deeply. Rose returned and bowed to my father.

"I am Pef Tian's wife, father-in-law."

"Good catch, son! Your wife seems very pretty, even with a veil. Blue hair too. There is a woman with green hair in the Ju village over the river." my father revealed with an innocent voice.

"Lucky scumbag!" Rose grumbled and glared at me like I was guilty of something. How was I a scumbag, this time?

"Take her to Tingling for now. I'll be there soon, just need to buy some stuff for the kids." I asked Rose, who sighed and vanished again.

"Are you staying for dinner?" dad asked like I was about to live with him on the farm.

"I'll buy some food in Silvertown. Be back in an hour or less." I said with a casual voice, then flew off. Silvertown was the nearest town, and the administrative center of the county. Just the right place to buy some land, cows and gold, plus clothes and other bits for my younger siblings. And also food for everyone. And a dozen bags of rice and vegetables for later. I returned with the goods, and saw my teenage sibling make sweet eyes with a girl next door, inviting her to meet me. Luckily I bought enough food.

The cows didn't like flying, but the flight took only seconds. Sages are fast.

"Land deeds? And so much food!" my brother exclaimed as I started spreading the gifts. I handed him his gold sword, and grinned.

"Go ask her parents and give them the gold as dowry. You want to marry my brother, right? It would be a waste of a gold sword otherwise." I asked my future sister-in-law. The girl nodded rapidly, and glanced at the 30 new cows on the lawn. Yeah. I bet she did. A bit later, I hugged my father then flew off towards the Frozen Pavilion. The Sect Gate had gained two more towers, one of which was familiar like my Master's Formation skills. The other was different, but I sensed Tingling's aura on it.

A Saint-made defense tower was probably overkill for this continent, but why not? Sun and Moon were guarding the gate today, and they blinked in surprise as I appeared in front of them.

"Hello there! It's me, Pef Tian!" I said with a grin. Both of them jumped in my arms, and began to cry.

"Husband! We read your letters, but you didn't send anything in last years. Mei even sent a red glass bit." I checked my Yang ring, and amid hundreds of black bits there was also a red one.

"Tingling should be strong enough to deal with anything here. Why a red one?" I asked curious.

"Exactly because of that. Tingling got sick. Master Wushang doesn't know what to do." Moon answered and dragged me inside the sect. Sun remained at her guard post, which was quite dutiful of her. As we flew, quite slowly, above the fairy disciples and new buildings, I noticed many new disciples, far too many in fact. Maybe a million. The Frozen Pavilion had expanded a lot in the past years. We entered the Ice Hall, and Fenghue appeared to give me a long hug.

"Come and see Tingling first. And I guess the blue-haired Saint is also with you?" Rose was not a Saint, but close enough. I stepped beside Rose and examined my Saint wife, holding her hand in mine. Cyanide poisoning, but much worse.

"Tried to become a Sage by force? Did the Dao speak to you about that?" I asked Tingling, who wasn't looking good. The poisonous seed of a Tier 7 apricot was indeed too much for a Saint.

"Sorry. My pill failed and the gas..." Tingling muttered in pain. Rose sighed and stored my poisoned wife inside her Dao Grotto.

"This is your fault, Pef Tian. Not everyone is blessed by the Heavens like you. I'll keep Tingling stable until you make a pill." I glanced at the Heavens with a heavy heart. Fairy Doctor doesn't mean you have to give me work everyday! What if I didn't return in time? I took Fenghue's hand in mine. She was already in Soul Transformation, which was amazing for this primitive continent.

"Mission for Blue Stars. They are to guard my father from demonic cultivators and similar threats. Until he dies. And by guard I mean marry him."

"His new step-mother was a demonic cultivator. Not the nicest thing to see when you come home to your farm." Rose added with a harsh voice.

"Agreed. So, you're already a Sage, right?" my fairy wife asked with a measured voice. And by that I mean she grabbed my dick to measure it.

"I guess we can hold a heels week and rekindle our marriage. Teach Blue Rose a few tricks too." I allowed with a smile.

"We all wear heels? Oh... for sex!" Rose said after reading Fenghue's mind. Both of them blushed afterward, possibly for different reasons.

"Scumbag!" they proclaimed with outrage, and smiled at each other. Guilty as charged, I just nodded proudly.