Page 747 of Heaven, Earth, Me

While waiting for Tengliu to appear, Yasenia moved slowly and tried to activate Ursa's Grasp. The seven steps and stars needed were a bit complex, and activating the skill mid-battle wouldn't be easy, especially when she was about to battle someone as strong as Tengliu.

'The Ursa's Grasp skill can be activated only by the steps combined with the stars, unlike Pegasus Gallop, which just needs to order and connect the stars in a certain order.'

She took one step forward, then another at an angle, then another until she completed the form of the constellation. Upon completion, a surge of power filled her, increasing not only her speed but also her strength.

Before she could inspect the effects more in-depth, Yasenia saw Tengliu sneaking closer through her spiritual sense, stopping a little further than her previous limit. This made our dragoness's eyebrow twitch. 'This pervert couldn't have been peeking at me from a safe distance in the past, right?'

Yasenia stopped what she was doing but didn't react so as not to warn her. 'Let's see what you will do now~.'

She didn't have to wait too long before she saw Tengliu using strength and flashing forward at incredible speed, appearing right behind her to give her a hug.

Predicting it, Yasenia hit the floor with her tail, pushing herself forward enough for Tengliu's wing-arms to miss. Then, she turned her body around with the same strength from the tail tap, landing while facing the silver harpy with a smirk.

Tengliu's beautiful purple eyes widened, looking at the smirking Yasenia.

Then, like a little fangirl, she approached with stars in her eyes. "Wow, wow! You've become so fast, little Yasenia! Did your Spiritual Sense increase in range? Or was that all reaction speed?"

Yasenia chuckled. "You'll have to learn by yourself. However, I can tell you that I've had a big breakthrough."

Tengliu pouted and approached while batting her long eyelashes in a coquettish manner. "Please~, tell aunty Tengliu~."

Yasenia laughed again and shook her head. "Nope~. Let's go inside; I want to release all my skills on you."

Tengliu licked her lips. "That sounds quite charming~. You can release them and try to defeat Aunty Tengliu."

The dragoness rolled her eyes at the clearly sexual innuendo. Looking at her happy smile, she couldn't help but ask. "So, how are the rooms you've all received? Comfortable? I've heard that you have almost taken root in our sect, as you are returning to your clan less and less."

With a large smile, Tengliu walked by her side and answered. "Don't blame me. Living here is lovely~. Regarding the rooms, they are delightful. I'm really happy with mine!" Then, she added softly. "Thank you for not holding back when creating mine."

Yasenia looked at her and smiled. "Don't worry much, Aunty Tengliu."

Tengliu hugged her arm with a big smile and nodded. "Mm!" Then, she asked. "So, how much of my strength do you want me to use?"

Yasenia pondered and commented, not minding the skinship. "The last time I told you to fight me with a recently entered high-level Epoch Core, and I lost in five seconds, right?"

Tengliu nodded admirably. "Being an entire realm below and not being instantly defeated is unbelievable, little Yasenia. I was stunned at that time. After all, the High-Level Epoch Core is considered the top powerhouse of the continent. Even if peak ones exist, most of them are retired and trying to break through that last barrier without much success. So, being able to resist five long seconds against one is really good."

Yasenia asked. "Do you remember exactly how much strength you used back then?"

Tengliu patted her naked breasts, making them jiggle. "Of course! Do I use exactly the same to see your improvements?"

With a nod, the dragoness added. "Yes. I've broken through the early stages of the Ethereal Soul realm, and I'm getting close to maxing out my beast and spiritual paths, so I want to know how much I've improved."

Tengliu and Yasenia reached the arena and got inside one of the privately reserved ones.

A sect where conflict arose needed a place to vent those misgivings, so there was a rule that if the other party accepted, disciples would be able to fight to the death, bet with their treasures, etc. Of course, the sect needed to know specific reasons and if one of the parties involved was forced. But other than that, disciples had the "right" to kill each other legally.

In a World dominated by the Jungle Law, this kind of rule wasn't outrageous, as they prepared most of them for the future. The benefits far outweighed the disadvantages created by it.

After entering the arena, Tengliu and Yasenia separated and looked at each other for a few seconds.

Yasenia summoned [Draconic Heart] and took a deep breath, her facial expression cooling down as a torrent of energy burst from her body.

The enormous aura that spread made Tengliu's eyes twitch. 'She has grown this much? How is this possible?'

One after another, buffs rained on the dragoness, making the already tyrannical aura increasingly strong.

One after another, skills like [Celestial Cosmos Dress], [Draconic Waning Moon], [War Intent Level 3], [Monarch Intent Level 3], and many other buffs intertwined and continuously increased her strength.

Aura burst after aura burst, and Yasenia's aura began making the air around her tremble as it seemingly grew without end.

By the time Yasenia stopped, Tengliu's relaxed face became serious, feeling a slight sense of pressure.

"[First Sky: Pegasus Gallop]."

Fourteen stars appeared around her, and Yasenia pushed her body forward.

Tengliu's pupils shrunk as she focused on tracking Yasenia's speed burst.

BOOM!

The heavily reinforced floor under the dragoness cracked, and she shot forward with ridiculous speed. Tengliu had lost Yasenia's track for a really short instant, not expecting such an abrupt acceleration.

By the time she reacted, Yasenia had crossed about two-thirds of the distance between them.

Tengliu didn't dare be careless, and she took a stance, ready to welcome Yasenia, increasing her own physical strength by using her skills that were limited to a new High-level Epoch Core.

"Come!"

With Tengliu's shout, Yasenia stomped the ground again, pointing her sword forward.

"[Draconic Sun Charge]."

While she calculated the meeting point, Tengliu suddenly saw Yasenia accelerating once more, and her restrained reflexes almost failed to see the sword tip appearing just one meter before her chest. 'What?'

Still, even if she was retraining herself, Tengliu still had the strength of a High-level Epoch Core.

With quick movements, Tengliu took a step back and moved her palm sideways, striking the side of the sword before it struck her, deviating her strike with a loud explosion.

However, Yasenia wasn't carried forward without control as she expected. Instead, the dragon used her push to increase her momentum and lash with her tail as she spun her body.

Tengliu wanted to dodge back, but with utter fascination, she realized that Yasenia's tail was too quick and long to dodge, leaving her with no other option but to defend.

With a smile, she crossed her arms and braced herself for impact.

"[Draconic Sunset]!"

BANG!

Her crossed arms and Yasenia's tail met, creating a massive explosion that forced Tengliu's talons to slide for about ten meters. Yasenia recuperated her stance and looked at Tengliu with cold and analytic eyes, preparing to charge at her again.

Meanwhile, Tengliu woke up from the stupor created by the strength behind the tail strike and burst into maniacal laughter as a chill of excitement and glee rushed across her body. "HAHAHAHA. STRONG! LITTLE YASENIA, YOU'VE BECOME SO STRONG!"

Then, with a wide grin, Tengliu rushed forward. Yasenia's every fiber tensed as her senses were pushed to the limits. 'Left!'

Sliding her left foot in an arc to move her body, the dragoness lowered her stance and placed her sword before the attack, coating it in energy to increase her defensive strength.

BOOM!

Yasenia clenched her teeth as she felt Tengliu's tyrannical strength hit her sword. Her arms cried in protest as they barely absorbed the shock, and her body slid backward for about 100 meters.

Even before she could regain her stance, Tengliu appeared at her right, sweeping her leg toward her stomach.

With practiced and quick motions, Yasenia spun her sword and met the kick with [Draconic Sunrise].

A flash of golden light followed a sonorous sound.

CLANG!

A metallic sound that a sword meeting with a leg shouldn't make spread around as sparks flew while the sword slid across the bird-like leg.

However, that balance was only maintained for a fraction of a second, and right after, the monstrous strength behind the leg strike blasted the gigantic sword backward together with the dragon woman, making Yasenia fly.

Tengliu grinned. "Yasenia, you are too light!"

The dragoness snorted as she regained her position mid-air, using [Cosmos Body Reinforcement], a Body Cultivation strengthening technique. She had used her spiritual arts until now and none of the body cultivation skills.

When Tengliu appeared again like a ghost by her side, Yasenia could see her movements much more clearly. Quickly, she turned around and slashed horizontally. "[Draconic Crescent Moon]."

Frost followed her sword's motion, creating a beautiful silver trail, and another collision occurred.

This time, while Yasenia was blasted backward, she had much more control over her sliding body than before.

Tengliu's purple eyes shone with appreciation, and she continued a relentless pursuit. Yasenia answered with her breath attack, claw attacks, body cultivation techniques, and spiritual techniques.

Continuous explosions were heard in the arena as Tengliu attacked without pause, using the strength of a recently crossed High-Level Epoch Core strength and pushing Yasenia to the limits with each strike.

If the dragoness lost concentration for a fraction of a second, she knew that a few of her bones would duplicate without her consent.

Still, while Yasenia was on the defensive, her previous limit of five seconds had long passed.

Tengliu marveled at Yasenia's resilience and ability to answer. Because this was a spar, she knew that Yasenia was not using her berserk or skills that could self-damage her. She still had fresh in her mind the terrifying strength that the skills that bore the "Celestial" moniker had.

10 seconds... 20 seconds... 30 seconds...

Yasenia released her body and spiritual path skills one after another, all her meridians pumping energy like crazy around her body.

Unlike in the past, the strain was much more manageable, and her energy and body followed her thoughts with unprecedented clarity.

Tengliu's attack speed constantly increased as the battle went on, attacking in places where Yasenia couldn't block and landing many hits on her.

Still, unlike in the past when her body almost exploded with each of Tengliu's attacks, now she was able to absorb the powerful blows without crumbling helplessly. Naturally, they hurt like hell, and each strike managed to fracture and break something inside her, but she could continue fighting even as purple and swollen spots appeared all around her body.

The fight continued, and Tengliu's eyes flashed. 'I got you.'

Tengliu's palm sneaked through her defense after a misstep caused by Yasenia's bruised leg not responding as she wanted, and the dragoness was unable to block the palm strike.

It landed squarely on her chest.

BOOM

"GAH!"

Yasenia felt the air being forcefully expelled out of her lungs as her rib cage sunk inward and her body streaked like a comet through the arena.

BANG!

Carrying tremendous speed, she smashed against the distant wall with a loud explosive sound, her head ringing and her vision disoriented.

Even then, she steeled her mind and used her spiritual sense to seek where Tengliu was, ready to stand up from her prone position and continue the battle.

However...

"I won~."

Yasenia smiled wryly when she saw Tengliu's clenched fist one inch from her forehead. If that attack had landed, the wall behind Yasenia would've been painted by her brain matter.

She readily admitted defeat for the umpteenth time. "You won, cough!"

As she spoke, Yasenia spat a mouthful of blood. That last palm strike had shattered a few internal organs.

Tengliu crouched and gently patted her back. "You were amazing, Yasenia. I took two minutes and five seconds to kill you!"

Yasenia turned around, her body aching everywhere, and fell on her back with a sigh. Her energy was working to heal her body, so there was itchiness in the places it worked, making her extremely uncomfortable. Still, she was accustomed, so her face didn't change.

"It's not bad. However, I expected to be at least able to land a solid hit or two. You blocked everything."

Tengliu shamelessly lay by her side, snuggling close to her, making Yasenia look at her disapprovingly.

However, the thickness of Tengliu's face could be compared to an armored city wall, so she just blinked cutely with a smirk. "You must remember that I'm not a real "recently broken through" High-Level Epoch Core. No matter how much I hold back, controlling the reaction speed and many other factors completely is impossible. Moreover, you haven't used any of your berserk skills or your dragon form. I think that your current effective combat strength is already on par with or superior to those "genius" middle-level Epoch Cores that are about to break through."

Yasenia pondered and felt that it might be the truth. She felt a pair of soft lips landing on her cheek, and she looked at the harpy. "As I said, you are extremely strong. Be proud."

Yasenia shook her head and sighed. "I'm not. With my current strength, I will soon die. I need to be even stronger."

Tengliu frowned, showing killing intent. "What do you mean? Let's see who dares kill you with me nearby!"

Yasenia smirked. "The Heavens."

Tengliu's valiant expression wilted, and she coughed. "Right, you have those abnormal tribulations."

Yasenia patted Tengliu's butt twice, asking her to get off from her body. She complied, and they both stood up.

Walking outside, Yasenia muttered. "A little bit more than a year for the summit. I need to prepare."

It wasn't only Yasenia but all the other girls who entered frenzied cultivation.