Jorey approached them with a wide smile. Although the situation with her cousin and Yasenia occurred in the past, Jorey was glad.
The elders pampered her cousin since childhood, making her very debauched and unruly. After meeting Yasenia and being crushed spiritually, she had a few mental problems for weeks.
However, after getting cured, thanks to a few pills they bought from the Astral Sky Shop, the cousin's personality became much milder.
She even accepted the marriage she had avoided after considering how considerate her lover had been until now and understanding her previous faults.
In short, the scare Yasenia gave her was a blessing in disguise.
Not that Yasenia aimed for it, but since it happened, she would take advantage of it to deepen relationships with the Mountain Traveler Merchant group.
Hence, Jorey approached Yasenia's group with a broad smile and with the cousin and other clan or merchant group members in tow. Most of them were fox-clan people.
"Lady Yasenia, I'm delighted to see you here! I was worried you wouldn't accept our invitation to go together."
Yasenia chuckled. "Why would you be worried?"
Jorey's fox ears flickered as she teased. "Without a beauty of Lady Yasenia's caliber in the group, the scenery around us becomes dull."
Yasenia laughed charmingly.
Her eyes moved to the side and met with the cousin's figure, making her flinch. "You are mostly recovered. Sorry for being that harsh that day, I was on my way to meet the City Lord, and I didn't want to delay it."
"N-No, it is me who approached with bad intentions, Senior. I would've probably done very inappropriate things if Senior wasn't strong enough. That reaction was more than justified."
Yasenia lifted an eyebrow and moved her finger, motioning her to approach.
The woman became nervous and looked sideways at her big cousin, Jorey, asking for help. However, she just received a glare and an urging gesture.
She could only step forward, and when she was before Yasenia, she saw her lifting her hand, at which she closed her eyes tightly.
Unlike the blow she expected, she felt a soft hand landing between her fox ears and caressing her head gently. Opening her eyes in surprise, she lifted her head to meet with a gently smiling gorgeous face.
"Being able to change is very good. Your cousin may be a bit harsh, but I know she is very proud inside. The pills used to treat you are not cheap, after all. Remember that in this world, there are people that once you offend them, there is no going back. You must be smart and weave around everything or gain enough power to face everyone head-on without fear."
The cousin's eyes lit up, and she nodded. "Thank you, Senior."
She felt Yasenia's head pats, which made her feel super comfortable. Yasenia's passive aura was very attractive to beast humans. Hence the cousin began pushing her head against Yasenia's hand with a wagging tail.
The others stepped forward and greeted her.
Yasenia stopped patting her head and began conversing with the powers she knew.
The cousin felt slightly lighter in her heart and obediently returned to Jorey's side.
Elder Song approached first. She had a gentle smile on her usual cold face and wore a gorgeous dress, highlighting her slender body and making her look young and elegant.
Her appearance was not old, to begin with; she looked like a well-maintained mature woman. This dress just made sure she looked suitable side by side with Yasenia.
"Lady Yasenia, you are as beautiful as always. It's nice seeing you." The disciples behind Elder Song almost tripped.
'Who is this woman, and what have you made with our cold and elegant senior!?'
Yasenia smiled back. "You also look gorgeous in that dress, Elder Song. I appreciate your care during this time."
Elder Song smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry. They were just a few things that didn't require much more effort than lifting my hand."
"Some people wouldn't even make that effort, so at least let me thank you."
Yasenia turned toward the others and nodded. "Elder Yu, Elder Mu, Elder Mao, Elder Huo, it is a pleasure meeting you all again."
They all nodded and greeted back.
After some presentations, which Yasenia didn't ignore as they were extra connections, Jorey suddenly asked. "Where is your other daughter, Lady Yasenia? I see Kaleina, but I don't see the small dragon."
Yasenia shook her head and sighed. "She was sent back home a while ago. She had acted a bit willfully and even attacked an Elder from Elder Mu's sect. Since she is the future Clan Matriarch that will succeed me, she can't be so impulsive. What if the Elder was not benevolent and attacked back?"
Elder Mu waved her old hand and smiled gently. "Don't be so harsh, Lady Yasenia. The misunderstanding has already been resolved. Young people being bold and not fearing fighting back is an excellent trait."
The elder Yasenia attacked, nodded, and apologized. "I was rash back then. We punished Outer Disciple Fu, demoting him from the inner disciple status he would take. I hope Lady Yasenia is okay with it."
Yasenia saw Young Master Fu's eyes flashing darkly. 'Ho ho, little young master is angry? Hmm, maybe I should get rid of him one way or another during this trip.'
Our dragoness nodded back and asked. "Let's forget about it, then. That punishment is more than enough. How are you going to travel to the neighboring city? Is there transport that will take us there, or will we fly directly? I don't mind either way."
They all told their methods and agreed to fly with their flying treasures.
Elder Song asked. "Lady Yasenia, my flute can carry two people easily at top speed. Would you like mounting it with me?"
Yasenia got thoughtful. 'Should I reveal my dragon form? After setting up our foundation, I don't have to be so afraid of dragon hunters coming my way. It will also increase the shock factor since my aura in my dragon form is many times more powerful. Dragon hunters will eventually come either way, if there are any. Hiding even after all these weeks of preparations is not being careful but cowardly.'
Tatyana agreed. 'Go ahead, little treasure. My intelligence network is still incomplete, but we can defend ourselves properly. Moreover, you'll meet with Ebirah's clan soon, and the first impression will help explain what happened and how she has become Andrea's contracted beast.'
Yasenia nodded and said aloud with a mysterious smile. "I will not bother Elder Song. I have my ways… Or well, I am my own way of flying."
She saw their confused expressions and smiled a bit wider. "I will take my true form, so please make some space. I'm a big dragon, after all. The aura I release while transforming is also not small, so protect the juniors from it."
Their eyes shone with curiosity, and they nodded. Yasenia gave Kaleina to Tatyana so that she could protect her and walked away from the group.
"How big do you think she is?" Asked Jorey's cousin.
Jorey gave her a side eye and said thoughtfully. "Lady Yasenia said she is big, so I guess she is similar to their guardian beast. The eight-meters tall wolf."
Her cousin's eyes opened. "So enormous! The rumor of the white giant wolf is not a myth! I thought a wolf that big was not possible."
Elder Mu commented. "You are young and still don't know much. However, there are beasts in the deepest part of the continent that far surpass Sierra's size. If I had to guess, Lady Yasenia should be at least ten meters tall."
The others also felt that her size should be around that.
Meanwhile, Yasenia closed her eyes and focused on her inner self. Then, she slowly chanted. "[True Dragon Transformation]."
They all felt a breeze, making them look around. 'Hm? Where is this breeze coming from?'
Over time, the breeze increased in potency. In a few instants, a wild gale formed an invisible whirlpool of energy that rushed directly toward Yasenia's body, blowing their outfits wildly with it.
Their eyes widened as the energy amount rushing toward Yasenia was utterly outrageous.
Yasenia's skin turned bluish and started splitting into sections, transforming her soft and tender skin into a scaly one.
The [Empyrean Cosmos Dress] began to hold with her body, and Yasenia's body grew in size.
Her face began elongating and gaining a beautiful and elegant dragon face. Her neck-length increased as her height grew, and her body changed shapes from a human-like body to a slender and athletic dragon body.
The lush black hair on her head vanished into beautiful starlight, and two golden horns grew from the top of her head. On her neck, a blue crystal mane slowly appeared.
When Yasenia was a four-meter-tall dragon, two bumps appeared on her back and expanded quickly.
The spectators felt a wave of pressure and energy pushing against them. Thankfully, the juniors were protected, or they would be kissing the earth.
Their face slowly raised as Yasenia's height went from four to six to eight meters without signs of slowing down.
"What in Heaven's name…."
Yasenia's beautiful blue scales shone under the morning Sun like a river of stars in a night sky. Her tail proportionally grew into a long and charming one.
The wings finally developed to their full size, revealing the beautiful Sun and Moon engraved in them. Her horns and claws were a beautiful golden, and a blue crystal mane adorned the elegant long neck of the creature.
Yasenia's adult dragon form was not similar to her young one, as the adult one had sharper edges, and the color was mostly the same across the body. A sky blue that seemed to have a galaxy.
Young Master Fu's eyes changed from scowling to fearful as Dragon Yasenia's size increased until she reached a monstrous twenty meters (About 70 feet) in height and eighty meters (About 260 feet) in length.
Her wingspan was as large as her length, creating a mighty figure of a dragon.
When the energy finally stopped gathering around Yasenia, she opened her closed eyes, revealing a pair of golden reptilian ones.
Then, she raised her head, a trail of golden light tracing from the corner of her eyes, and let out an explosive roar toward the Heavens!
*ROAR!*
The shock wave created by her deep, resounding, and profound roar visibly moved the air around the giant dragoness. The imposing wings with the brilliant golden Sun and the beautiful silver Moon extended to their maximum width, bathing the surroundings in her starry glow.
After she transformed, Yasenia's bloodline was not restrained by her human shape and weighed down on them, making their bodies feel deep down that this creature was above them in every regard.
Jorey muttered with awe-filled eyes. "What in the heavens is this majestic creature?"
"Big Cousin, didn't you say she would be ten meters at most? Isn't she double that?"
"What a beautiful dragon…"
Every person in the scene asked themselves what the hell was this Empyrean Creature in front of them. She was so big that the fifteen-meter-tall giant guards on the door appeared tiny compared to the seven-story tall dragon building.
Elder Song and many others were utterly charmed by the cosmic beauty of the creature.
Yasenia lowered her head and looked at them with her golden reptilian eyes. Then, she spoke. "I apologize for the roar. It has been a while since I've transformed, and I had the urge to do so. I hope I didn't scare anybody."
Her vocal sound resembled her human form's mellow and slightly deep voice. However, in the dragon form, it had an added tone that gave it ethereal qualities. It appeared to come from everywhere and nowhere and also seemed to reach the soul and enchant it.
That sentence was enough to make more than a few gain reddish faces, their tails wagging.
Elder Song was a [Five Fanged Serpent], so as an added reptilian ancestry, she felt her heart about to burst from excitement.
They all smiled, and Kaleina squeaked in delight. She loved her dragon mommy in this shape the most!
Yasenia looked at her dears and lowered her head to nuzzle them with her giant snout. "I'm back."
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Author Note: We begin the volume with Yasenia's transformation, and we also end it with it!