Yasenia moved forward, her speed noticeably faster than before. The two weeks of cultivation were fruitful enough to be noticeable. Such an effect spoke volumes of the [Flame Sky Ancestral Flame]'s effects.
After entering the radiant gold area once more, the strength of the flames was noticeably higher. Even when they didn't increase to the point that Yasenia thought she had changed levels, she couldn't take them lightly.
Knowing that she could still advance further, she didn't stop. Her figure moved through the flames, closing into the latter half of the radiant gold flames. Once she crossed the middle point, Yasenia stopped.
She stopped not because she wanted to, but because the flame that struck her body had ridiculous force. Yasenia raised all her defenses, her energies fighting to block the terrifying force trying to consume her.
"This is ridiculous. My skin is getting damaged under the fire of this location." A complicated expression appeared on her face. "This is probably my limit. Level Six of the Transcendence Realm, right? Not bad, I guess."
Yasenia used a whole day to carefully advance until the limit. By the end of the day, she could only take one step each minute, eventually coming to a stop.
She sat cross-legged, her skin getting burned and regenerating at an incredibly quick pace. Then, she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the pain.
Her figure looked terrifying right now. The level of burning was not some casual reddening of her skin. The fire was eating away at her flesh, her regeneration barely keeping up and creating an endless loop that most would consider torture.
The seniors observing her had calm looks. With their experience, they understood that for someone of Yasenia's age to reach her level of strength, the methods of cultivation must've been something that most would be unable to bear. Seeing to what level she pushed herself with their own eyes made it more than clear that Yasenia was the cruelest, not to others, but to herself.
In the flames, Yasenia had yet to start cultivating. The pain and terrifying energy around her made it rather impossible to focus. Even then, she didn't give up. One day went by, and the second came to an end right after.
Time slipped by, and one week later, there was movement.
Of the spectators, many had actually looked away. Seeing Yasenia's suffering was something that not many could look at without feeling sick in the stomach. Much less when there was no progress and the beautiful dragon woman was fully conscious throughout the whole week.
"Look! The flames are moving!"
A junior who had been obsessed with Yasenia noticed the small irregularity. This attracted the attention of many, and soon those who had been observing others went to look at Yasenia once more.
Yasenia, now accustomed to the fiery pit she was thrown into, sucked the first few strands of flames into her meridians. The terrifying radiant gold flame instantly turned violent, resisting her attempts and attacking the meridians.
The pain from having her meridians burned in the way made her bite her lip, but she prevailed and finally dragged it into her dantian. Once there, the Celestial Black Hole Energy Star sucked it and refined it at its fastest speed. Just a few seconds later, the golden strand of fire transformed into a golden strand of pure and nourishing energy.
Using her focus, Yasenia passed that strand through the burnt meridians, healing them and strengthening them. The process was time-consuming, but nothing too egregious.
After she was successful with one strand, Yasenia took five of them at once. The flame strands entered, repeating the same process. After five were refined, she reached out for twenty. After twenty, for one hundred.
The flames around her flickered, strands slowly flowing into her body one after another and transforming her body.
After another two days, the flickering turned into a large vortex.
After another three days, the vortex grew in size as the voracious maws of the dragon started opening.
After one month since the start of the second tournament trial, Yasenia's surroundings were spinning toward her while her aura grew at an uncontrollable pace—the dragon was fully awake, devouring everything around her with endless greed.
The flames in the Ninth Level Transcendence Realm area were far denser than those in the eighth. Therefore, even as Yasenia mauled through the energy in her surroundings, the pace at which it disappeared was comparatively slower than before.
Tatyana smiled, her eyes full of pride and joy. 'Great job, Little Treasure. Now, push beyond and dazzle everyone. Become unbeatable during this one last month.'
As if she heard her words, Yasenia's aura burst out, covering thousands of kilometers instantly and locking onto all that could feed her like a ravenous predator.
Her realm increased, the energy she had stored from the first trial, and her Dual Cultivation sessions with Tatyana were being processed at speeds far beyond her usual pace.
Her aura grew, the treasures inside her receiving endless benefits. Like a furnace, she processed everything.
One week passed, two weeks passed…
When there were only ten days for the second trial to end, Yasenia's aura ballooned even more. The air around her compressed, gathering for a second before it exploded outward with violence.
BOOM!
The bottlenecks that barred Yasenia from breakthrough were torn open, utterly unable to stop Yasenia's monstrous ascension. All her cultivation paths, connected as one thanks to Dramel, surged together and poured endless benefits into Yasenia's body.
Her bones reinforced, her spiritual sense broke through its previous limits, while her soul increased in size to the point that her previous soul was insignificant.
While Yasenia made it look easy to fight above her current level, each Transcendence Level was extremely far apart. For an average Second Level Transcendence, defeating a Third Level Transcendence was impossible. The only thing they could do was run.
So, after Yasenia broke through, her strength became incomparable to before. Even if she fought against five of her previous selves, she would be able to stomp them all to death with ease.
At this point, Yasenia had two options. The first one was to take advantage of the situation and keep breaking through as much as she could. This would save her several years of cultivation outside, pushing her realm quite a lot further.
The second option was to use the last ten days to consolidate her cultivation. She would refine the already completed realms to perfection and make sure that her breakthrough was as stable as a mountain.
After pondering for a few seconds, Yasenia checked inside her Dantian. Her treasures were all breaking through as well, their strength increasing quite quickly. Of course, those treasures beyond the Ancient Realm only improved marginally. The energy they needed to become stronger was enough to allow Yasenia to reach her current level several times over.
"Hm… Let's consolidate."
She had always done things slowly, taking each step steadily. Because there wasn't a visible threat on the horizon beyond her and Tatyana's enemies, it didn't mean that she could start acting sloppily and break through as fast as possible.
Her lips arched faintly for a moment, noticing one more thing that she could do now. 'I can devour flames much quicker.'
She was honestly tempted to go to the next area. However, if she needed to get accustomed again, she would lose precious time that she already didn't have.
So, instead of breaking her current flow and settling on another location, Yasenia decided to sweep her current one as cleanly as possible before the 10-day countdown ended.
The vortex that dispelled after her breakthrough reappeared once more. This time, it was even more violent than before. Her senses expanded, taking everything in several tens of thousands of kilometers around her, and she began sucking everything in with her cultivation techniques.
Her body was perfected. All her impurities were burned away as her realm consolidated to the point of perfection. The energy she required was not as considerable as before, so the treasures had a larger share themselves.
Dramel, Draheart, and Soluna all processed the treasures they were devouring quickly, and they too managed to break through their realms.
Dramel and Draheart especially evolved far beyond their previous realms!
"Time is up!"
Yasenia was forcefully pulled away by a boundless force, but instead of fear, she felt somewhat peculiar. 'Why do I feel as if Yan Huang wants to take me away hastily?'
She didn't care much about that, though. Instead, her focus was on the three voices that appeared in her head after quite a long time.
"Yasenia! Yasenia! I am now muuuuch stronger! You must use me in fights more actively!" Dramel's melodious voice echoed in the Solar System Dantian, endlessly cheerful.
Draheart spoke as well, her usual flat tone having a touch of unmistakable happiness. "I also became stronger… I'll catch up to that flag quickly."
The flag, as if understanding Draheart's provocation, exploded with boundless killing intent. Draheart snorted and released her draconic aura against it.
BOOM!
The killing intent of the flag was much greater, but the quality of Draheart's aura was truly ridiculous. Draheart was like a firefly trying to resist the sun… and actually managing to do so.
Yasenia's eyebrows raised gently, pleasantly surprised. "Draheart has become a Five Star Supreme Ranked Treasure, while Dramel has become a Two Star Supreme Ranked Treasure. Not bad at all."
Her eyes moved toward the beautiful spirit, and she smiled gently. "What about you, love?"
Soluna giggled and released her aura. A boundless and profound aura very similar to Celestial Energy spread out from her. Yasenia's eyebrows jumped a little. "Fourth Level? You actually surpassed me?"
"I did! The treasure you gave me was truly nutritious. I was able to break through twice with it."
Soluna was at the peak of the second realm when she received the treasure. Her cultivation had always been slightly ahead of Yasenia's. So, after the nourishment of the golden flames and the treasure, she could skip the third level and reach the fourth!
Her current strength was not worse than Yasenia's strength!
With the three treasures finally awake and fully upgraded, Yasenia couldn't help but pity her opponents. 'I broke through, my Celestial Intent Domain broke through, and my treasures broke through. Even my most used skill got upgraded.'
She didn't want to underestimate her opponents, but all signs pointed to the last section of the tournament becoming a total stomp on her part.
"How was it, Little Treasure?"
Yasenia finally looked around. While everyone around her didn't bother her, thinking that she was still in a meditative mood. Tatyana gently pulled her into her arms, and Yasenia didn't resist, using her tall body to embrace and envelop Tatyana as she purred in delight.
"I gained a lot of things this time around! I'll tell you later~."
Tatyana chuckled, kissing Yasenia's cheek lovingly. "Alright. Rest for a bit now. The last part of the tournament starts three days later to allow everyone to get used to their new strength. You weren't the only one who managed to break through inside the trial."
Yasenia nodded seriously.