With Tatyana on her lap and Cecile on her right, Yasenia looked to her left and smiled. "Well, Tengliu. Let's talk now that we are in a similar position."
Tengliu looked at Yasenia closely, and her body relaxed, showing a smirk. "I admit it. You caught me off guard. I didn't expect you to have the power to restrain someone at my level."
Yasenia waited for Tengliu to continue.
"Yet, these actions confirm many of my suspicions. First, you are not that strong. Second, only after I'm completely tied and under your control do you consider we are on the same playing field. This point also tells me many things about how you see me, and outside this room, you can't stop me without using that dangerous thing you possess."
Yasenia lifted her eyebrow. "If things don't go my way, I can kill you and be done with it."
Tengliu smiled. "Oh, Yasenia. Don't play silly games with me. You and I know that killing or even hurting me permanently is not something you can do now."
The Matriarch continued. "Moreover, this tells me that unless you have a method to control me all the time for the rest of your life, I'll be able to retaliate sooner rather than later as soon as I'm free."
Yasenia leaned back with Tatyana and nodded without any fear. "You are right. I'm utterly powerless against you in that regard. You may be physically restrained, but in truth, I'm not a threat to you. You have an advantage even in this situation that could be called dire for you."
Tengliu was confused. "Then why did you do this? Didn't you consider that this can create resentment inside me and take my chance to retaliate even if we become friendly in the future?"
Yasenia sighed and complained. "You were stepping on my bottom line like an uneducated bandit, and you expect me not to retaliate in the slightest and allow myself to be pushed below your talon? I do not fuss about a bit skin-to-skin interaction. However, you were about to kiss and try to charm me with your skill to then, most likely, force yourself on me!"
Yasenia gently pushed Tatyana off her and seated her on the sofa. Then, she leaned forward and looked directly into the harpy's eyes. "I'm going to be honest with you, Tengliu. I want to kill you. However, if what Ghana said to me about you in the past is fifty percent true, it is worth it not to do so."
Yasenia showed a flood of killing intent that was not faked as her pupils thinned and the receding red in her iris gained new brightness. "Also, don't think you are completely out of danger. I can kill you, kill Ghana, and clean all the harpies in my clan with a single wave of my hand. After doing so, other clans would respect me as strong. My only enemies would be the entire harpy race and your allies."
Tengliu smiled. "Isn't that a lot?"
Yasenia laughed angrily. "Do you think your subordinates will be safe when the other powers learn about your death? I can use the time it will take for danger to fall onto my clan to strengthen me enough to retaliate. Moreover, in the worst-case scenario, I can propose a war to resolve things "fairly," and when all your little birds gather in one place, I'll annihilate each of them with my talisman. Do you believe it?"
Tengliu's smile disappeared. The scenario Yasenia suggested was possible. "You think they are easy prey? Even without me, they are still a powerful clan and will know if they are being guided to a trap."
Yasenia laughed in mockery. "But you are the Guardian and strongest harpy who keeps the enemies and allies at bay. You are the connection link in the chain of relations. With your death, everything would collapse quickly."
Tengliu squinted. "Tsk, I really like you, but I hate that head of yours. You would make for a great mate if you were a bit stupider."
Yasenia leaned back and closed her eyes for two seconds while taking a deep breath.
When she opened her eyes again, they were completely golden and warm like before.
With a sigh, she spoke like usual. "But that way is filled with too many dangers. Hence, a path without everyone killing each other is best."
Yasenia looked at Tengliu and uncoiled her tail to free her. "Now-."
Tengliu instantly clenched her fist and punched Yasenia.
Yasenia saw a flash and barely placed her hand in front of the strike before it impacted her.
*BANG!*
The furniture below them exploded, and Tatyana and Cecile were blown back a few steps.
However, Yasenia didn't move from her position, strongly clenching the fist that had landed on her two palms.
Although the dragoness looked okay, her internal organs were hurting like they were on fire because Yasenia absorbed the strike to not be pushed against Cecile and Tatyana.
Our dragoness's eyes were wide open. 'Fuck me. How is she still this strong? My hand bones almost broke because of her strike.'
Yasenia smiled calmly. "Have you released the pent-up frustration?"
Tengliu retrieved her fist with a snort but soon after laughed. "You are stronger than I thought. It is rare for my intuition to fail me."
Yasenia summoned another couch and sat. "Hm? What do you mean?"
Tengliu sat beside her and placed her head on her palm while resting her arm on her propped-up knee. "I usually can tell the strength of another person easily. Besides feeling monstrous potential, I thought you were so weak that I doubted my intuition when I saw you. The strike I made right now should be about middle-level Ethereal Soul Realm, and you defended it with just your body."
Tatyana looked at Tengliu closer and lifted an eyebrow. 'Little Treasure, she has Fate Attribute. It has manifested as powerful instincts because she has assimilated it in her body as a Body Cultivator. She is much more powerful than my initial assessment. Thankfully, my control over Fate is on another dimension, so even her instincts failed her when I created the formation.'
Yasenia was impressed. A Fate-attributed Body Cultivator sounded quite dangerous. "Tengliu, let's get to the real talk. First of all, I want to be allies with you."
Yasenia looked at the nervously fidgeting Ghana and smiled. "I honestly like the little birds under my care, and I've become fond of them. Of all the races, they are the ones who have clicked with me the best other than Lamias. Can we be truthful with each other?"
Tengliu crossed her legs and folded her silver wings below her chest. "Sure. You've shown your value, and I'm also interested. Honestly, besides stealing a few kisses from you, I didn't plan to go all the way. "
She continued indifferently. "If you fell to my Intent, you only were that much. I would've lost my interest and probably let you go without touching you."
Then, she added calmly. "This is a world where the weak get eaten by the strong."
Yasenia nodded. "I know. That's why I'm restraining my guts that tell me to do very bad things to you and speaking up. As you've guessed, my strength is much smaller than I portray it to be. Honestly, I'm not even stronger than Ghana unless I use some hidden skills and tricks."
Yasenia laughed. "On a one-against-one to the death, I could probably only defeat her six out of ten times."
Ghana was stunned to speechlessness.
She has sparred against Yasenia a few times and always felt powerless as if she wasn't able to see the bottom of Yasenia's strength.
This was an effect of Yasenia cleverly using her intents and auras to instill a sense of intimidation. Moreover, since Ghana's bloodline was not that high, this sense of oppression was much more remarked, making Ghana always feel like she would lose, and therefore, not really realizing that Yasenia was giving her all during the spar.
"So I wasn't wrong with my initial assessment of you."
"You were not. Your punch right now almost made a few bones in my hand crack. My strength is not that much. But even being this weak, I managed to delay you enough from doing your mischief and entrap you in a lethal trap. Your life is currently in my hands, even though killing you does not benefit me in any way."
Tengliu smiled a little and then laughed aloud. "Good! I really like you. Yasenia, I understand where you want to go with all of this. However, besides a future strong ally, what do I gain?"
Yasenia smiled playfully. "Isn't my future strength enough?"
The matriarch rolled her eyes. "You are someone worth investing in, but besides gaining you as an ally, what do I gain as a return for my investment? If you honestly think that just yourself is enough to scam this old woman, you are dreaming."
Yasenia's lips arched, and she laughed. She was waiting for this question. "How about… The ability to break through the limit and ascend like Hero Distancia?"
Tengliu's smile disappeared as involuntary shock colored her facial expression.
Ghana also looked at Yasenia with unbelieving eyes.
And Carbira had her eyes lean forward while her little mouth opened in disbelief.
"That's impossible! Don't you dare scam me after all of this, Yasenia!"
It is natural for Tengliu to be angry. After all, the people of this continent couldn't cross the last step into the Transcendence Realm because of a lack of energy and because the world's heaven was still too young to allow the cultivators to cross this step.
Tatyana's strike when she arrived wouldn't have hurt it if the Heavens weren't this young.
Yasenia smiled. "Well, it's normal not to believe me. So… analyze the quality of the formation below you in detail. You can even try to break it if you want."
Tengliu looked at the ceiling, floor, and walls shining with complex lines and runes and focused on it. "Ghana, come here and help me."
Ghana took a step forward but stopped after a second, looking at Yasenia with complicated eyes.
Yasenia nodded with a smile.
Ghana smiled gratefully and quickly went to help Tengliu.
Yasenia approached Carbira while those two tried to inspect the formation.
"Nothing will happen, so don't be this tense, okay?"
Carbira quickly nodded and muttered. "S-Sorry for being so useless, Lady Yasenia."
Yasenia patted her head soothingly. "Don't worry. Also, why have you reverted back to Lady Yasenia?"
Carbira's eyes shyly danced. "Y-Yasenia."
Yasenia smiled. "En. That's better."
Cecile approached and said without filters. "Are we really not going to kill her?"
The dragoness hugged her and stole her lips in a tantalizing kiss that softened the phoenix's legs. "I'm not, sweetheart. Haven't you heard our conversation?"
Cecile buried her face in Yasenia's neck and smelled her scent. "I-I've heard. Sorry."
Yasenia hugged her soulmate tightly and comforted her until she saw Tengliu about to finish.
After a few minutes, Tengliu stopped and looked between Tatyana and Yasenia with complicated eyes. Thanks to her Fate-attributed physique, she could perceive a bit of the depth in the formation, and it scared her.
"How did you build a formation of this quality in this room without my notice? Moreover… This… This is not from our continent."
Yasenia returned to the couch and patted her side. Tengliu sat there and looked at our dragoness, waiting for her answer.
"You see, Tengliu. My clan has seniors who have already cracked the secret to increase past the limits imposed by this young World. I'll come completely clean with you this time. The Heavens cried in anguish because our experiment was successful, and a senior managed to hurt them."
Tengliu's expression became solemn at that claim.
Yasenia saw it and asked with a smirk. "Knowing this, do you think we have the qualifications to cooperate with your clan?"