A while later, Yasenia was lying on her side while pondering, resting her head on one hand with her upper torso raised while her other arm circled Angel.
The red hair had already returned to the shiny and silky blonde color. The same with her eyes, becoming the sky-blue beautiful orbs they usually were.
Angel was awake, her face buried in one of Yasenia's breasts while she suckled one of Yasenia's nipples with squinted eyes. "So tasty~."
Yasenia looked down at her and smiled softly, her hand caressing Angel's naked back and butt without any sexual tension, just pure affectionate feelings.
This reminded her about Kaleina, so she opened a communication device to speak with her.
It didn't take long before it connected with the other side. "Baby, how are you doing back at home alone? Is everything okay?"
Kaleina's young and clear voice was heard through the device with a little laugh. "Mommy, you called only a few hours ago!"
Yasenia laughed softly. "Sorry, love. I'm just worried."
Kaleina answered softly. "I miss you, Mommy. When will you return?"
Yasenia felt an impulse to give up the Secret Realm exploration to be with her baby, but she resisted. She needed to become stronger to protect her little dear better. Maybe she could find something interesting in the Secret Realm for her.
Yasenia answered carefully. "I don't know, baby. The place where Mommy is going is dangerous, and I might stay there for a long time. However, I promise that I will call you every day, and if one day I don't, the next day I'll spend double the time with you."
Kaleina answered with a reluctant tone that was covered, trying to be strong. "O-Okay, Mommy, I will be good and wait for you."
Our dragoness almost rushed back to the sect to hug her little love. She sighed and nagged a bit. "Remember all the things Mommy told you, okay? Listen to your aunties, eat healthy, and remember to drink Mommy's milk daily! Also, don't try to be brave, and if someone bullies you, tell the aunties to take care of it. If it is cold, you should listen and wear a bit thicker, okay? Your scales are very powerful and pretty, but sometimes we all need clothes, even Mommy!"
Kaleina giggled. "Okay, Mommy! I'll listen to you. Also, also, there is so much milk I don't know if I'll be able to finish it!"
Yasenia had been preparing spare milk for four years just in case, so there was truly a lot of it.
Yasenia smiled. "That's perfect. You can drink as much as you want that way. It's super duper healthy."
Kaleina answered happily. "Okay! Mommy's milk is the best! Honestly, other milk is very bleh, and I don't like it."
Yasenia frowned and felt a fit of jealousy almost consuming her. "Did you taste someone else's milk?"
Kaleina's young survival instincts kicked in, and she answered with a stutter. "I didn't!"
Our dragons relaxed, and her smile returned. "That's good. Remember that other milks besides your Mommy's can cause indigestion! They are evil, cough, terrible, so remember only to drink mine, okay, love?"
Kaleina sighed and nodded seriously. "Okay, Mommy. I will remember!"
The maid waiting beside Kaleina was having a hard time holding back her laughter.
Mirrory looked at Yasenia with a strange but teasing gaze and asked. "Other milks besides yours can cause indigestion?"
Yasenia flinched and looked sideways, avoiding Mirrory's amused eyes. "W- Who knows? After all, mine is better, right? If she downgrades from good to bad quality, it might be bad for her stomach, right?"
Mirrory let out a small chuckle and didn't correct her.
Angel looked up at Yasenia's awkward face and laughed, making Yasenia blush a little.
Their conversation continued for an hour straight while Angel took her sweet time to fill her tummy and then relax in the dragoness's arms, eventually falling asleep.
Suddenly, a large spatial fluctuation covered the entire valley, snapping Angel back from her sweet dreams about eating delicacies made by Yasenia's milk while being pampered and, consequently, making her angry.
She sat up quickly, making her softness bounce beautifully, and complained. "I was about to taste Yasenia's milk ice cream! Who is using energy so recklessly and woke me up!?"
Mirrory and Yasenia felt flabbergasted as they looked at the grumpy Angel.
Yasenia held her laughter and hugged her. "Baby, the secret realm is opening."
Angel blinked twice and looked at the playfully smiling Yasenia, who had clear amusement dancing in her eyes and felt embarrassed.
Before a blush covered her entire face and the embarrassment reached an uncomfortable threshold, our prepared Yasenia summoned an ice cream cone with a white and creamy-looking substance on top.
Angel blinked, forgetting her embarrassment, and her smile bloomed like a flower. "Milk ice cream!"
Tatyana opened the door and saw a naked Yasenia hugging a naked Angel while Angel licked an ice cream cone and Mirrory floated around aimlessly.
Her face became helpless. "Say, little treasure. Is this more important than preparing for the secret realm?"
However, she asked at the wrong moment since Yasenia was in her ultra-pampering mode. "Of course! My baby's happiness is the first priority!"
Mirrory laughed in schadenfreude. "You truly raised her well! Hahaha!"
Tatyana lifted her eyebrow and smirked. "Little treasure. There are treasures for all of your dears in the secret realm. Are you sure you want to delay getting them?"
And thus, Yasenia picked Angel up in a princess hug and smiled. "Let's go to the secret realm, baby!"
Tatyana looked at Mirrory with a raised eyebrow as if saying, "Do you really think I don't know how my little treasure works?"
Mirrory rolled her eyes and waved her hand, clothing Angel.
Meanwhile, Angel used one arm to wound it around Yasenia's neck as she held the ice cream with the other and continued eating happily.
Yasenia summoned her combat dress, and they walked outside, meeting with the others.
After gathering together outside her camp, Yasenia blinked and asked. "Where is Evelyn?"
Selena slithered forward and spoke with a smile. "Evelyn has been going out with Sierra lately to meet with Zephyrith."
The dragoness lifted her eyebrow with interest. "Oh? How so? Also, is there anybody with her?"
Selena nodded. "Don't worry, young miss. Alaia is accompanying them in the dark."
Andrea was also curious and asked. "So, why are they together?"
Selena chuckled. "It seems that Sierra has taken a fancy to Zephyrith, and they have been slowly getting closer."
Kali's eyebrows lifted with surprise. "isn't she the right-hand woman of the Steel Back Wolf Patriarch?"
Selena nodded. "Yes."
Yasenia got thoughtful and pondered. 'Hmm… I'll need to keep an eye on this…'
After no more than five minutes, Yasenia saw Sierra and Evelyn flying back while Alaia appeared behind her. Yasenia didn't ask and waited for them to speak.
Sierra was straightforward and commented. "Lady Yasenia, I hope we weren't too late. We were taking a stroll with Zephyrith and didn't feel the spatial fluctuations sooner."
The dragoness chuckled and asked. "So? Any progress?"
Sierra blinked and then laughed. "Well, less than what I expected, but it's not bad."
Evelyn joked. "Yasenia, you have to be careful; Sierra is more of an expert than I thought."
Yasenia laughed and summoned her sword, mounting on it. She looked at the rest and ordered. "Let's go!"
The rest followed her lead, and the group flew together toward the gathering area.
Sierra received a message from our dragoness while they flew. 'I'll take it into consideration and forgive her as long as her offenses are not too deep. There will be a confrontation, after all. However, forgive me if anything else happens.'
Sierra blinked and then smiled. 'Thank you, Yasenia. Just these words are more than enough. Whatever happened in the future, I wasn't planning to blame you. Evelyn is always my priority.'
Yasenia nodded, satisfied.
Meanwhile, high up in the air, Zephyrith was looking at Yasenia's group fly away, or more specifically, at Sierra, with complicated emotions. Then, she shook her head with a sigh and disappeared like mist, leaving behind a murmur. "Don't die…"
Frisk, the lightning Quilin, asked. "Yasenia, how will we move inside? As a group, or each their own?"
Yasenia answered. "We'll go as planned. Those confident can go on their own, but the reason for the four Sky Elders here is to protect you all. We have enmity with these First ranked powers: Steel Back Wolf Clan, Nine Silent Fang Sect, Storm Desert Garuda, and maybe the Five Fang Serpent clan. Besides those, the rest are small groups or clans that won't dare do anything excessive."
The dragoness added. "Of course, other powers might have asked their juniors to 'teach us a lesson' for being overbearing the first day we arrived. As long as you keep this in mind, you should be okay…" Yasenia remembered. "Oh right, make sure that you aim for treasures you can keep, not treasures you can obtain."
A young disciple asked, confused. "What do you mean, Sect Master?"
Yasenia patiently explained. "For example, if you can get a heaven-ranked treasure without anybody noticing, perfect. However, if there are many other powers nearby interested in it, think twice if you can protect yourself against them after getting it. When treasure hunting is involved, people can become very greedy and kill others."
Yasenia looked at them closely and saw a few handsome and beautiful men and women between her sect juniors. "Also, be careful with other people. Greed for beauty is a widespread attitude, so suspect everyone and never trust them completely. Especially those with better looks."
They all looked at Yasenia with weird eyes, wanting to say that right back to their gorgeously alluring sect master. 'If someone should be worried, it is you!'
Looking around the area where the spatial fluctuation occurred, Yasenia finally saw the number of people ready to enter.
It was at least in the few million. The only restriction to the secret realm was being below low-level Epoch Core. Hence, many weaker people were here to try their luck.
Remember that besides the principal Sects, Clans, and Empires, there were a lot of rogue cultivators and all kinds of groups, like mercenaries, merchants, and similar, roaming around.
Furthermore, our dragoness distinctively spotted representatives for all the Nine Sects, Three Empires, and Thirty-Three clans.
At the lead of each power, there was a group of at least one hundred made of their most talented disciples and a few strong elders.
Because of the large number of people, Yasenia couldn't distinguish individual auras, making her wonder if she would find surprises.
Her lips couldn't help but arch, the dragon's golden eyes glowing with battle hunger. 'Well, this will be fun.'
A massive portal opened and twisted space, creating a massive passage that would leave even her dragon form looking like an ant before a human.
The walls were a flow of energy at first, but they quickly transformed into a rocky surface, clear that it connected with some kind of giant cave.
While Yasenia pondered if it was better to fly inside or walk on land, a few of her disciples tried to rush forward. Yasenia naturally stopped them. "Wait. Entering now or a few moments later won't change anything."
That disciple frowned. "Sect Master, with all due respect, you are behaving too cowardly! Look, rogue cultivators are already rushing in, together with other smaller sects."
Yasenia looked at him coldly and spoke, looking away. "Those who want to go can go."
Then, she did not bother anymore.
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Author: The secret realm is opened!
Yasenia: Sigh…
Author: Y-You don't seem too motivated.
Yasenia: I'll be away from Kaleina for who knows how long… My baby is just five years old! Sigh…
The rest: …
Author: Well, your communication devices are much stronger, so you'll probably be able to talk with her daily, right?
Yasenia: I don't know if I would have the willpower to participate otherwise…
The rest: …
Author: Cough, leaving aside the pampering mama dragon, let's summon today's dear. I summon you!
Dante: I'm back!
Angel: Hello! It has been a while!
Dante: That's true. Anyway, seniors, I'm very curious about something. What are the pros and cons for each of the three cultivation paths of Body, Spiritual, and Soul? And which path would you say is the strongest or holds the most cards against the other paths?
Valeria: That's a situational question. It's like asking, what is better, water or ice? Well, it depends. Both are somewhat interchangeable under the right conditions.
Dante: Right.
Mirrory: If I had to stick to one cultivation path, Spiritual is the choice. There is a reason it is the most widespread of the three.
Dante: What reason?
Mirrory: You don't have a glaring disadvantage. For example, a Spiritual cultivator that focuses on soul attacks would have an advantage against body cultivators, and a Spiritual cultivator that practices body-strengthening techniques would have an edge against soul cultivators. Naturally, this is without considering personal strength, but in a general way.
Dante: I can understand why.
Mirrory: Yet, a similar argument can be made for the other two. If a body cultivator meets someone with a weak body and manages to reach a melee range, they are done for. It's the same for Soul cultivators meeting someone with a fragile soul.
Dante: That's also true…
Tatyana: As Mirrory explained, there is no "Best" but "most appropriate for a situation." It's similar to rock paper scissors that can suddenly make the paper win against scissors because paper learned how to harden themselves.
Dante: That's quite a fun and appropriate metaphor.
Author: Yep, that's all for today. Thanks!
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pat reo n.com/posts/andrea-anime-92141405 Andrea Anime Style! (Sketch)