When she activated [Day and Night Cycle], everything seemed to stop for a moment.
At that moment, as Yasenia activated her berserk skill, the whole area around her fell under the dragoness's influence. The abundant energy rushing toward her concentrated, and then, everything exploded outward in a massive aura explosion.
The strength of the aura burst was so high that it ripped apart the crystal from the ground and the surrounding area of 200 meters, lifting everything in a wave of dirt, crystal, and rocks. The effect was similar to an asteroid smashing the place where Yasenia was.
Fu Jing Jing currently had strength similar to a mid-level normal Unification Realm cultivator, so since the beginning, although careful, she wasn't really worried.
However, the moment Yasenia appeared in front of her barrier, her eyes completely silver, her body coated in a long white body-hugging dress, and her sword glowing with a chilling light, she knew that she had misjudged Yasenia's current strength by a serious amount.
Yasenia's chilling voice echoed in the surroundings. "[Crescent Moon]."
Fu Jing Jing made a split-second decision to reinforce the shield surrounding the ritual.
*BOOM!*
The shield created and enforced by the Saint bent inwards as an enormous chunk of the forest outside exploded into particles. After Yasenia's sword hit the dome, it seemed to have retreated, allowing the dragon to walk forward.
Fu Jing Jing felt the impact much harder this time, which made her eyes widen again. 'Impossible! How can she have so much strength? Not even a genius from the Divine Heavens can grow so much in such a small window of time!'
As Yasenia prepared to attack again, Fu Jing Jing looked at the ritual, and her heart trembled. There were cracks on the crystal coffin! 'I only need two more days!'
Yasenia also spotted them, and her smile became wild. "You lasted one sword strike. Let's see if you can take the second one. [Dragon Authority]!"
If her previous strength wasn't enough, Fu Jing Jing's horror grew as the dragoness's aura multiplied one more time.
When Yasenia was about to charge toward the healing dome, Fu Jing Jing's calm voice stopped her in her tracks.
"If you swing one more time, I will kill her. There is no meaning in keeping her alive if I can't pass down my inheritance. If you are so eager to destroy my life's achievements, go ahead. However, the price to pay will be her life. "
Yasenia looked at Fu Jing Jing's calm face with gritted teeth. 'Again! Someone comes in my way when I try to save them.'
Yasenia looked at Fu Jing Jing and then smiled, "Do you think you are in control of the situation?"
Fu Jing Jing didn't flinch and said, "Junior, you can't bluff against me. I'm someone that has seen even the truth about the Heavens themselves. I'm a saint, unlike those false ones you have met. My strength in my peak goes much further than what you can currently imagine."
Yasenia shook her head, "But you aren't what you were. You are just a speck of your real self. Worn down by the merciless time, your soul integrity right now is like broken pieces of a jar glued together, leaking its content each second that goes by."
Fu Jing Jing internally frowned as a bad feeling crept up in her heart, 'Hm? She shouldn't be able to feel Soul integrity at her level. That is something only Low-level Dantian Spiritualization Realm experts can perceive. Don't tell me...'
Yasenia didn't speak anymore and acted. "[Day and Night cycle: Sky Prison]."
With her words, [Day and Night] suddenly changed. The phantom night sky that covered almost a whole kilometer shrunk in barely a tenth of a second, surrounding Fu Jing Jing.
Fu Jing Jing thought her barrier would stop it, but to her absolute surprise, the black transparent encroaching sphere phased through her dome, trapping her. 'What!?'
Although surprised, Fu Jing Jing instantly reacted and tried to destroy the domain with a powerful attack that consumed almost half of the crystal remaining in the surroundings. "[Heavenly Truth Sword Style: Pierce]."
An elegant longsword appeared in Fu Jing Jing's hand, and she thrust forward without holding back.
The action was simple, and even the aura around it seemed invisible. However, the moment Fu Jing Jing stopped thrusting, the surroundings dimmed.
Fu Jing Jing's attack made the earth tremble around her even when most of the influence was contained by Yasenia's black sphere and exploded forward with tyrannical strength.
However, the tip of her sword phased through Yasenia's sphere, and the massive attack disappeared into the horizon.
Even then, when that attack hit something and exploded, the aftermath was something that made Yasenia feel death.
An enormous blue explosion rocked the land, creating a terrible earthquake that was felt hundreds of kilometers away. Even when that attack exploded tens of kilometers away, the explosion's shockwave reached their area, blowing Yasenia's hair and dress violently.
If that attack had hit her without using protection, her survival chances would have been zero. 'If I didn't make the attack to trap souls and immaterial things, I would have been in trouble.'
Fu Jing Jing blinked, unable to comprehend why was the black sphere around her intact and restricting her. She didn't panic and lowered the white sword in her hand, asking calmly, "What is this, junior? Why didn't my attack affect it?"
Yasenia smiled and said, "You know, Miss Saint. I had a lot of time to think about how to face people with powerful mental or soul strengths. I'm a physical fighter, so my weakness is clear. My weakness is those who do not need to exchange moves directly with me."
Yasenia took her sword and slashed toward the barrier powerfully again. *BANG!*
Fu Jing Jing frowned, but she didn't interrupt. Yasenia said, "That is why I thought about how to fight big or to find a countermeasure to that problem. If I cover my weaknesses, I would be much stronger."
Fu Jing Jing nodded calmly, "You are right. Knowing your weakness is a vital part."
Yasenia nodded, "That sphere you are trapped in is the answer. Anyway, I will now open this dome and take Angel away. No need to talk anymore since I've already charged enough energy."
Yasenia pointed at the sky with her sword, and the energy in the area began to flow toward her again.
Fu Jing Jing felt the magnitude of the attack, and she became seriously restless for the first time. "Junior, stop! You are doing more harm than good to Angel with what you are doing!"
Yasenia laughed, "Do you really think I would believe you? Angel is indeed getting stronger as time goes on. She has grown so much that I can't even recognize her strength compared to what I have in my memories. Her current strength is enough to fight with me if I don't use [Day and night]. That's how much she has grown."
Fu Jing Jing looked through the black cocoon Yasenia had created around her. Then, she used a soul attack on it. Her palm shot forward and slammed onto it.
*BANG!*
The black sphere became egg-shaped as Fu Jing Jing's attack deformed it.
Yasenia grunted but didn't stop channeling energy toward [Noon].
Her voice was now loud and clear, resounding like the midday Sun. "But, in truth, there isn't any significant change in strength that comes without a price, especially if it happens in a short amount of time. Not for me nor everyone else. Even I had to experience many hardships to gain my current strength."
Yasenia sneered, "Maybe, compared to the hardships someone like you had experienced, they are insignificant but compared to most people at my level, they would have definitely killed or broken most of them."
*BOOM!*
The floor below Yasenia sunk one more time as [Noon] was fully charged.
Fu Jing Jing didn't hold back anymore and shouted, enraged for the first time since their encounter. "You know nothing! Even though what you said is true, the reverse is also true! You can not gain strength without sacrificing something!"
Yasenia held her sword with her two hands as she spoke. "That's most of the time true. However, I can make that statement untrue. My extremely advanced dual cultivation technique is enough to bring all my dears to greatness with the simple sacrifice of them devoting to me."
"At first, I knew my Dual Cultivation technique was extraordinary. But only after experimenting with it did I understand how extraordinary it truly was. It is so extraordinary that even you may have heard its name. That's how confident I'm in it."
Yasenia took a step forward and lowered her sword, bringing the new [Noon] into being. "Shatter for me. [Draconic Noon]."
With a monstrous energy explosion, a golden dragon made of pure Sun Energy shot forward with a resounding roar.
*ROAR!*
The powerful [Draconic Noon] slammed onto the barrier and exploded in a blinding explosion. The shockwave shattered the whole Glass Forest surrounding them together with the energy dome around the ritual.
Fu Jing Jing looked on as the defense protecting the core of her ritual disappeared with a stunned expression. 'I still had half of my defensive energy reserves. Did she shatter them in a single attack? How? That is only something a mid-level Unification realm expert could have ever achieved.'
Without boosting herself, Yasenia would be able to fight against a recently advanced Unification Realm expert to a standstill. After [Celestial Dress], [Dragon Authority], [Day and Night Cycle], and her sword, [Draconic Heart], boosted that strength further, her second most powerful attack, [Draconic Noon], reached mid-level Unification Realm strength.
Her monstrous self-strengthening capabilities made Yasenia extremely unreasonable to fight against, even when her strength was similar to her opponent.
After shattering the protective shield, Yasenia slowly walked toward Angel and the floating, half-consumed woman on top of her. Yasenia looked at Fu Jing Jing's anxious face and said the name of her Dual Cultivation technique. "[Celestial Maiden Ascends through the Heavens]. That's its name. That's my confidence."
Yasenia saw a minute change in expression that Fu Jing Jing instantly hid.
Still, Yasenia's smile widened since the minute expression was "shock."
Yasenia then touched the crystal coffin with Angel imprisoned and said, "Miss Saint. I will give you one chance to consciously stop the ritual and let Angel wake up to explain things to me herself. If, and only if, she explains to me that this is her will, I will let you finish whatever you were previously doing."
Fu Jing Jing didn't answer instantly. Her Trial had brutally damaged Angel's mind, and at the moment, she was unsure if Angel would be able to remember anyone or even talk. To make things less painful for Angel, Fu Jing Jing had decided to strengthen Angel's mind last, allowing her to feel like all was a dream. Fu Jing Jing thought, 'With her protective nature if she learns that I almost made Angel a vegetable, I already know what will happen!'
Fu Jing Jing wanted to curse. 'I didn't calculate Yasenia's growth and her appearing here! How did she gain so much in such a short time? It is like a decade has gone by!'