Some hours later, Yasenia arrived at the area where the crystal cave was. However, the location was completely different from what she imagined it to be.
Sure, it was surrounded by the forest and cliffs, as Han Xue described it. Yet, the surrounding ten kilometers from where Han Xue guided her were covered with a crystal layer, creating quite the sight.
Between the Trial point and Yasenia, an enormous crystal forest that gave Yasenia a dangerous vibe appeared.
The dragoness stopped at the edge of the crystal forest with a frown. 'What happened here? The place should be covered in normal vegetation. Or was it a misunderstanding on my part?'
She walked toward the edge and looked at the crystal.
To Yasenia's surprise, the edge of the forest wasn't still. The blue translucent material was advancing, devouring everything slowly but surely. 'Strange...'
Yasenia observed the surroundings, searching for other cultivators. Shortly after, she spotted a group of five made of five men.
The dragoness approached after analyzing their strength. They were not a threat, so she was comfortable getting close to them.
The group of five heard someone approaching and turned. When they spotted Yasenia, they were surprised. These people were from the Town, so they recognized her thanks to that long dragon tail and her out-of-the-norm seductiveness.
The leader, a young man, asked, "What does the Heavenly Dragoness want? We don't want any trouble."
Yasenia smiled and said, "Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you. I was curious about this part of the forest. What happened here?"
Another tall one interjected. "We don't know. One week ago, lightning struck the center of the crystal forest, so we came here to look for treasures. But even after entering the forest, we only found a strange dome in the center."
"Yeah, but no matter how we attacked it, it didn't even budge."
"In truth, we are waiting here in hopes that some sort of Treasure is born. We don't know much about it."
Yasenia nodded and looked at them curiously, "How did you traverse the glass forest? That glass appears to have devouring properties."
The leader of the group answered. "The effects are minimal. With a small energy membrane, you can defend against it. An energy burst can destroy it even if it gets onto your skin. It's not as dangerous as it may seem."
Yasenia looked at them for some seconds and then smiled, "Thank you for your honesty. I'm going to take a look inside the forest. Maybe I'm able to discover something. If I do, I will come back and tell you as a reward for helping me out."
The five smiled and nodded, saying words of thanks.
Then, Yasenia turned and walked inside the forest.
The main reason Yasenia was so adamant about entering the glass forest was that her communication device was giving her signals that someone was near her. The devices would react when they were close to each other, so Yasenia knew that someone was inside the forest.
When she placed her foot on the crystal soil, the blue translucent material tried climbing up her leg. Yasenia let it climb up her shoe and touch her skin. The feeling was cold and sharp.
Yasenia then circulated her energy on her leg and made it burst outward. Like a hammer hitting a glass vase, the material covering her ankle exploded into pieces. 'Perfect, it is quite easy.'
With the reassurance that she could defend herself against it, her steps became fast, and she disappeared inside the forest.
The other five were somewhat speechless, even to them, a group of Half-steps; it had taken almost two minutes to make all the crystals on them fall off.
Yasenia easily approached the center of the forest and arrived in just a few minutes of carefully running.
What greeted Yasenia was an enormous blue crystal structure.
It had various pillars and opened walls. From multiple spots of the structure, six glass chains were connected to the center of the place. There, Yasenia spotted a transparent glass coffin with a person floating above it.
When Yasenia focused on the coffin's contents, her puìls dilated because of her powerful feelings. Inside the coffin, a small woman with long blonde hair lay unconscious. Her entire being as if frozen in time in her most beautiful state.
When Yasenia saw that woman, her heart burst with the repressed emotions of excitement, happiness, and pure unadulterated love. "Angel..."
How much has she missed her? How much has she dreamt of her?
Seeing Angel in front of her after the twenty long and hard years made her heart feel like it would leap out of her chest for her dear. Like a spark landing on something combustible, her feelings literally burned anew.
However, the powerful feelings of love didn't last as Angel's situation finally registered inside the dragoness's mind. Her pupils instantly thinned into vertical lines, and her aura rose with a shockwave.
*BOOM!*
The explosion cracked the crystal surroundings violently, sending multiple shards in every direction.
The reason Yasenia had such a violent reaction was that those chains pierced Angel's body in various vital spots. Her hands, legs, and even forehead had a chain connected to them.
However, all of that was overwhelmed by the last chain and what was happening there.
On top of Angel's crystal coffin, another woman Yasenia didn't recognize was floating horizontally. That last golden chain connected their hearts, making clear that some sort of ritual was ongoing.
Yasenia's feelings were swallowed by wrath after fearing the worst had happened.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!?"
Her roar carried abundant amounts of bloodlust as it spread through the surroundings and beyond, scaring every single creature that heard it.
The sheer strength of her roar exploded the previously cracked crystal below her, revealing the forest five meters around her.
Without waiting for a reaction, Yasenia zoomed forward, stomping the ground so powerfully that it sunk several meters, widening that crater threefold its previous size.
Fu Jing Jing appeared between Yasenia and Angel, creating a barrier around the ritual area. "Relax, young dragon. She is safe-."
"RELEASE HER!"
Without letting her speak nor stopping her own charge, Yasenia took out [Draconic Heart] and circulated her energy. Her meridians carried rivers of spiritual energy, and her sword ignited with golden flames. Then, her muscles perfectly coordinated as Yasenia swung it with her whole body toward the barrier. The air compressed before the sword, and Yasenia roared, "BREAK!"
*BOOOOOM!*
[Sunset] exploded violently, creating a second Sun in that area.
The crystal in the surroundings lifted, the floor sunk even deeper, and the crystal trees caught fire.
The golden explosion consumed almost a hundred meters around Yasenia into an inferno. The power of [Sunset] was completely different from before. It couldn't even be compared.
Fu Jing Jing's eyes widened because she felt the impact of that attack. 'How can a level nine cultivator create such a powerful attack?'
Yasenia looked at the barrier and saw that it was unscathed. 'Impossible. Not even a single scratch?'
However, although the barrier seemed untouched, another thing happened on the outskirts of the Glass Forest. A big area of crystal exploded into shiny particles. This was the result of their energy being consumed.
Since Fu Jing Jing didn't have any strength besides some last-resort attacks, she had added something to the ritual to give her the strength to protect Angel in case someone tried to intervene.
The whole Glass Forest outside the ritual area was Fu Jing Jing's extra energy reservoir!
Fu Jing Jing saw the small shock in Yasenia's eyes, and she said, her tone calm and collected. "Young dragon, stop before I have to do something I will regret. You are not allowed to interrupt the ritual."
However, Yasenia didn't care. She looked at the floating and ethereal-looking woman and growled, "Either you release her, or I will destroy this place! If you think that was all my strength, you are in for a painful surprise."
Fu Jing Jing narrowed her eyes and said, "I was called "Heaven's truth saint" when I was alive. I-"
*BOOM!*
Yasenia's sword slammed into the transparent force field deployed by Fu Jing Jing with even more strength than before!
Fu Jing Jing felt almost a thousand of her forest disappearing into particles from that attack. She looked at the dragoness with wariness, 'This attack was three times stronger than before.'
Yasenia's voice was terrifyingly calm but accompanied by a powerful and menacing growl. "Even if you are the incarnation of the Heavens themselves, I won't let you touch her. I will give you one final chance. Release her."
Fu Jing Jing asserted, her voice carrying an invisible pressure that slammed Yasenia like a steel wall. "I won't let you interrupt this ritual, junior. Step aside."
However, Yasenia wasn't deterred in the slightest.
Her face became extremely cold as a monstrous amount of killing intent exploded from her. Fu Jing Jing frowned, feeling the enormous wave of killing intent. 'How can someone so young have such a strong killing intent?
Only by murdering hundreds of thousands or even millions can someone reach this level. Her bone structure is that of a twenty-one-year-old junior. Unless she has been killing since birth, it is impossible to have slain that many people.'
Even the surroundings seemed to darken under her bloodlust.
Then, Yasenia declared. "Since you want to do it the hard way. Then, so be it."
In the next instant, the energy in the surroundings ignored the ritual placed by the Saint as it rushed over to Yasenia.
Fu Jing Jing became stunned for the first time in their encounter. 'How is this possible!? My formation should not be influenced by a junior in the Mental Nourishing realm!'
She focused inside Yasenia and saw a thing that made her expression change.
Inside Yasenia's dantian, the [Celestial Pearl] was rotating crazily, creating an energy whirlpool that absorbed the surrounding energy like a voracious black hole.
It was at that moment that Fu Jing Jing understood that the junior before her had what it took to ruin her ritual.
She shouted, her voice having lost some of the undisturbed calm she had portrayed before. "You foolish dragon! If you continue being so adamant about ruining my inheritance ritual, I will have to kill you even if it is the last thing I do!"
Yasenia, who was about to enter [Day and Night], frowned for a split second. 'Inheritance?'
However, the spontaneous doubts that had appeared instantly dissipated.
"You didn't want to talk before. Now I can only stop the ritual first. But don't worry, I won't destroy it.'
"[Absorption of Celestial Light: Day and Night Cycle]."