Mira returned to the old ship, the First Drop of Spring, with a cheerful mood.

  Things had gone amazingly well this trip, gathering most of the recruits needed to replenish the regiment, and even catching a damn spy!

  And as a bonus, her sword's weakness was repaired, by some strange new sect...

  "Captain Stone, you're not going to believe this..." she began, bursting in the Captain's room, only to halt when she noticed a new recruit sitting down with the Captain and having tea. Not the usual reception for new recruits.

  "Why do you smell like Hundred Spirit, Lieutenant?" the Captain asked, turning his head a little to stare her down.

  The Captain's guest turned as well, and Mira saw a beautiful woman, only a Divine but looking pretty strong at the first glance. Backwater worlds like this one normally had very poor recruits, and most of them died before becoming strong enough.

  "...I met Sergeant Deng! He actually became an Emperor on this small world. And also...look! My sword !" Mira announced and presented her better Demon Core Sword.

  The Captain sighed, and offered her a chair beside the female recruit. "This is Madam Ming, of the Tower. Recently promoted to Corporal rank." he pointed to his guest, who nodded and sipped her tea like a proper lady.

  "Eh? I just met your husband! The Tower Saint. I am Mira!" she began and held her hand out for a shake.

  The woman measured her from head to toe with a strange gaze, then nodded. "Did you get invited to his harem of jade beauties too?" Corporal Ming asked in a defeated voice.

  Probably not a rare occurrence then. Men were pigs, even cute ones like the little Saint.

  "...Errr. Of course, I was! Any man with some sense would want me as his wife." Mira said in a proud voice, and gestured at her amazing body.

  The woman sighed as well, then turned to the Captain. "This is your choice, but in this case, better the devil you know. She won't regret it anyway."

  "You won't need the Demon sword, Mira. If the compass readings match, you won't need it for your next mission. And if they don't, you will be dead and the precious sword would be lost." The old Captain said in a sad voice, and stored his treasure compass, then floating her beloved sword into his hand to examine it with glowing eyes.

  Mira felt like half of her soul was ripped away, when her dear sword vanished inside the Captain's storage ring.

  She just sipped her tea, and kept calm. Things were moving in a new direction, likely related to this new Tower sect.

  "You can ask now, Lieutenant." the Captain allowed after a minute of painful silence.

  "New mission, sir?" she asked.

  "You will deploy in this system, and work with the local forces to defeat an incoming demonic invasion. If you should fail this part, you are to recover the Tower Saint and bring him to our nearest star castle for safety. Code 872 Blue." the Captain continued in his normal, unfazed voice. Then again, when their transport ship exploded in transit last time, he was still unfazed. She still waited for something, anything that would impress the old Libra Captain.

  Mira grunted inward when she heard the code. Another Buddhist plot, causing strife and suffering for their mysterious reasons.

  "And who is number one?" Mira asked as the Libra code designated her as second in command.

  "Your future husband, of course. Consider him my equal, if it's easier that way. Now go, and drop the spy in the brig." The Captain ordered in a flat voice, then poured more tea to the new Corporal.

  Mira blinked, then walked away with heavy feet. She had been asking for a high-grade mission for a long time, but when it came, and she was to deploy by herself to defend an entire star system, things didn't seem so great.

  "Don't worry, Captain. My husband will keep her safe..." she heard Madam Ming offer in a kind tone to the Captain, just as the armored door sealed behind her back, engaging the privacy arrays as well.

  Dragging the demonic spy by a leg, Mira dragged her feet to the brig, and deposited the prisoner into the welcoming hands of the Intelligence officers, who grinned a bit too wide at getting some work to pass the time until they reached the battlefield.

  "Even this backward world has spies? We are five weeks away from the nearest contact line." Lieutenant Grant observed with his keen mind. His eyes glanced behind her head, where the big sword was missing now.

  "I'm staying behind to solve that issue, Grant. If there are spies, there is more to come." Mira answered the unworded question, then slowly dragged herself to her room, to collect her plush bear and other old mementos from a distant life, before Libra.

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  How was a tiny, young Saint equal to her ancient Captain? There was a gulf of millions of years spent in constant warfare, and four cultivation realms as well. Unless...there was a powerful cultivator behind the Tower. Someone strong enough to impress the Captain...

  As she headed slowly towards the void drop exit, Mira met two new recruits, holding a round crystal to their eye and scanning everyone then comparing notes.

  "That guy is stronger that you, Ji! But still weaker than Mistress Ming." one of them pointed at a decent veteran, survivor of 4 battles and half-way towards the Origin Realm by now.

  "I think all of them are weaker than Sect Mistress, Shuang. Hah, if only Amelia was here, or even Bai..." the man called Ji muttered in a dismisive tone, causing a dozen soldiers to glare at them and their insensitive comments.

  "Yeah, no way. Saints can't really fight in the void, even if they are stronger than all these losers. Pef was wise to only send the Divines on this trip." Shuang answered with a casual tone, dismissing every single Libra soldier in earshot as a loser.

  Mira grinned at the impending discipline about to befall the reckless recruits, then jumped into the void exit and fell towards the planet.

  By habit she scanned the planet again from high orbit, locating the two human Origins and the Core Snail Beast hidden deep in the Jade Forest, then five more demonic cultivators inside the foul Sea of Devils, and a lone Dragon in human form, flying in circles around a broken mountain, near the Blue Wind Empire.

  The other Origin Realm hailed from another world, unlike her grouchy sergeant, but had build his Oracle Mountain here, with a useful refueling station at the top. Most compass signs pointed to yet another demonic cultivator, but as long as they provided ship fuel and occasional Divine soldiers, the Libra Army was willing to close an eye.

  And lastly, the newest local sect of note, the Tower. Or more correctly, the Outer Tower, hinting to a hidden Inner Tower.

  Also responsible for depleting the recruit pool by one, and replacing the dead guy with a Divine cultivator from their sect, this Madam Ming, recently promoted to Corporal.

  She didn't sense it wrong then, this Ming was strong, even stronger than Mira had been when she first joined Libra. It still took Mira a few battles and close-encounters to realize her Sword Heart, and become a Corporal.

  'Be careful, Mira. The Tower might be stronger than Libra.' the Captain sent to her mind, then the First Drop of Spring blurred away, leaving her alone in the void above the sad, underdeveloped planet below.

  Mira sighed, and changed course, landing beside the Core Snail, who turned an eyestalk to measure her for danger.

  "Human. There are plenty of cities to the west. What greedy plot do you have in my forest?" the beast asked in a bored voice.

  Mira held her palms out for peace. "I was sent to this world in case there's a demonic invasion. Nothing else." she revealed with a calm voice.

  The ancient hill-sized beast sighed, almost like an old man who had seen too much. "The yellow-robes then. So wise, and yet so stupid. I can't help much, human."

  "The Demons will eat you last, but you will be dead and eaten all the same, Old Snail. I know you can shapeshift, if you really want to." Mira pointed out with a careless tone.

  The beast grunted, then pulsed his Qi to cover the entire Jade Forest. "I am not a Beast Emperor, human. You need to ask that cunning red fox for help. She robbed a hundred Divine beasts of their precious herbs already."

  Mira raised an eyebrow, then scanned the forest for a special fox. There was a single such red fox, wearing red bracers on her forelegs, riding on top of a far larger and dangerous Divine Boar, while the larger beast was digging with its snout through the soil to dig out roots, and presented them to its master.

  "Bury them back, you wooly pig! I don't need Saint herbs and roots. Only Divine stuff, idiot!" the fox grumbled like a fancy princess, then shifted one of her paws into a human hand, to knock on the boar's head.

  Mira smiled wide. This place had all kinds of strange things, but this red fox was on another level.

  In a few steps, Mira arrived beside the wooly pig. Quite a smart ploy, to use the boar's sensible nose to locate burried roots.

  "Hello, I am Mira!" she introduced herself, quite politely, considering these were only two beasts.

  The red fox turned her head towards their unexpected visitor. "Mira, and she's a human. Good looking too." the fox noted in a strange tangent. Why would a beast care if she was looking good or not?

  "What's your name, red fox?" Mira asked instead, and ignored the less sentient pig.

  "I am Meadows, a respected member of the Tower. Did you come down from that Libra ship?" the fox answered in a cogent voice, far beyond what she expected from a Saint Realm Spirit Beast.

  And also, a member of the Tower? Mira blinked. "I see why the Old Snail sent me to you. You have powerful backing."

  "Go and rest, pig. And don't try to run again. I will still eat pork, even if I prefer grilled beef." the Fox beast called Meadows ordered in a regal voice, then descended from her raised perch on top of the giant boar, then waved a paw to produce a table and chairs, and the table set up with two bowls of delicious beef gril, and chopsticks on the side.

  Mira tasted the food cautiously, then ate more, as the beef was delicious, despite the strange company.

  Meadows also used the chopsticks to eat, while waving her three tails like happy dog.

  "Very good food! It even has some spiritual energy inside. From the Tower?" Mira asked in a pleasant voice.

  "If you met the big snail and lived, you must be at Core Realm at least. What business do you have with this little Saint?" Meadows asked more directly.

  "Demon invasion. The Libra Army sent me to help, if possible." Mira admitted, feeling a bit strange, then discovered that the entire area around was covered with a powerful Soul Illusion, likely to bewilder any Divine Realm.

  "Hah! I can kill 100 Divine Demons perhaps, but my Qi is limited, Libra girl. Although things might change after I Ascend to my Divine form. I am not far now, having eaten plenty of rare herbs..." the red fox gestured with her chopsticks and nodding wisely.

  Mira blinked, then reminded herself that this fox was a member of the Tower. "All right then. I'll help you get more Divine herbs, and get you your Divine form. And you help me save the world." she offered in a serious voice.

  "Fine. But you can't touch my tails." Meadows accepted and held a paw to shake.

  She shouldn't have taken the paw. They both sunk into a soul world, where Meadows was a giant fox, at least equal in power.

  "Now, big tits. Tell me, when did you met my future husband, and what happened?" the giant fox demanded and poked Mira in her soul with a huge claw.