The rogue cultivator that approached the door gained the attention of almost everyone in the room.
He looked around, sweating coldly, but he continued forward.
Then, after stopping before a room with the number 26, he began touching it to see if something happened.
The door didn't open, no matter what he did. After that, probably feeling frustrated, he took out the key.
It was a bronze key, so nobody moved.
When he took out the key, a part of the door spun and revealed a keyhole. People became interested. Yet, after trying to insert the key, a burst of energy exploded from the door, sending the cultivator flying backward.
Many spiritual senses checked his condition to see if the blast had any lethality, but the man was perfectly fine.
Our dragoness and the others got thoughtful.
That same cultivator quickly stood up and checked around himself, but there were no wounds.
Angel whispered. "Why didn't it let him enter?"
Yasenia shook her head. "I have a few guesses, but I have to confirm them before I say anything. After all, if I take out my key, we'll need to enter that place quickly."
The man changed the number chosen and went to the opposite, a door with a one on it.
When he tried to enter the key in the keyhole with a cautious expression, to his and the rest's surprise, the key slid inside.
Then, that key melted into the five-meter-tall hole and changed its color to a beautiful bronze.
An instant later, an aura appeared around the cultivator and the door.
Yasenia looked closely at that brown aura and saw that the energy was slowly filling the door's carvings.
A group of rogue cultivators approached, the leader looking quite arrogant. "Hey, you. Get out. My group will take this door."
The man frowned and summoned his sword, ready to fight.
The group laughed, and the leader mocked him. "We are eight, and you are one. Do you think you can win when our cultivation is higher?"
He was nervous, but he spoke firmly. "If I don't try, I will never know."
Yasenia's eyes flashed with appreciation. 'Courageous.'
She felt that his strength was not low compared to the group, so she admired him for not fleeing when chances of winning existed.
A fight started quickly.
While the man fought off the eight cultivators, Yasenia realized that the brown aura stopped seeping into the carvings. 'After choosing a door, do you need to protect it until it opens? Also, when fighting for it, the progress seems to be stopped. Why did the creator do this kind of test?'
Tatyana seemed to read Yasenia's mind and spoke. "Probably to see if they are worthy of keeping the key they've gained. Have you already noticed the mechanism? It should be quite clear by now."
Yasenia answered. "The number should be related to how many people the key carried here. All doors are identical, so we need to search for a door with the number 9 on it."
Angel blinked. "Nine? But we are eleven, no?"
Yasenia shook her head. "Mirrory and Valeria were not counted in the entrance of the secret realm, so they also shouldn't be counted here. It's a small gamble. But I'm 90% sure I'm right."
The girls blinked and then looked at Yasenia with sparkling eyes. 'So detailed.'
Evelyn spoke after thinking. "Yasenia, can't we wait until almost everyone has left before we choose ours? Our key is a bit problematic. If we go now, we might receive the attacks of almost all the room."
Yasenia was about to answer, but a deep and magnetic male voice suddenly spread around the room.
"The first key has been inserted. The number of keys that have been retrieved are 189 Bronze, 161 Crystal, 16 Silver, and 3 Golden. The time limit to enter the next realm is five hours. If you can't fuse one of the doors with your key, you will be disqualified to participate in the following trials. Keys are group-related, and all those who were transported together can enter the [Worthy Rooms] after choosing a room with the number of people transported with the key."
Yasenia's lips twitched. 'That's foul.'
"Well, you've heard. Now, top-level powers will undoubtedly wait until the golden keys appear."
The girls looked at Yasenia, waiting for her to make a decision. It was not that they didn't have any ideas, but having a clear decision-maker with them giving their thoughts would make things more straightforward. Furthermore, they trusted their dragoness.
Yasenia pondered and looked at Andrea. "Darling, you know what will happen when we reveal it, no? I know you don't like indiscriminate killing, but-."
Andrea hugged her, interrupting her speech. She then smiled softly and hugged Yasenia, kissing her lips. Yasenia's tail wagged happily, and she snuggled in her arms. "Don't worry. I told you before, right? Unless it is a situation where it is possible, I'll never refrain from killing for you, love. You are my first priority, above anything else. I won't hold back and always protect you, so you also shouldn't hold back."
Yasenia's smile had a touch of shyness as she buried her face in her neck and licked her tenderly, tasting Andrea's salty but delicious skin. She fell in love again when she heard such honey-like words. "I love you, darling~."
Andrea chuckled lowly, making our dragoness's bones soft.
Fearing that she might push down her darling in the middle of such a situation, Yasenia separated from her and ordered. "Cough. Let's go. We'll kill anyone that tries to approach us."
The girls looked at her waist and laughed. Although her face was serious again, the tail wags seemed to be unable to stop. 'So cute~.'
This conversation was done between the girls, not including the beast heirs and Sarah's group.
Yasenia turned toward them and explained the situation.
Then, she said. "If you have a crystal key, go for it without fear. If you have something above that, I recommend waiting for a bit so that the numbers are reduced."
Sarah and the beast heirs nodded.
Click!
The sound of a mechanism falling into place was heard, and Yasenia turned to look. The man had actually won, although his body was a complete mess.
The right side of his face was crushed, and his left arm was missing, with large and small lacerations and bruises all over his now semi-naked body.
The attacks had destroyed a large part of his robes.
However, without those people attacking him, the carvings instantly filled, and the door descended to the ground.
Some people rushed at the man, but the previous "dueling area" had become a shield blocking everybody else from entering. He laughed and turned around, entering the door.
Then, the doors lifted and closed, becoming a dull grey color.
Even the number had disappeared.
Yasenia had a plan after seeing that. 'It seems that defeating cultivators also fills the gauge. Well, it's normal. If not, golden key cultivators would need to kill everyone else to have the right to participate. However, this part seems aimed at those with high-level keys to avoid spending too many treasures too quickly.'
The dragoness and the girls rushed toward a door with the number nine without fumbling around anymore.
Many eyes had been on Yasenia, so her movements were caught quickly. People had heard that they had a crystal key, so nobody stopped them from approaching the door.
However, the expressions of the entire room changed in the next instant.
Yasenia summoned her key, and a golden radiance bathed the surroundings. The dragoness expression changed. 'It didn't do this when I got it the first time!'
She tsked her tongue and began doing the same motions as the man. 'I need to move quickly.'
The door before Yasenia became extremely luxurious as the golden radiance seeped into it, with emerald accessories and other grand details appearing. The number of "carvings" to be filled was at least ten times more compared to the bronze door.
Without delay, Yasenia inserted the key, and it melted into the door.
A magnificent golden pillar shot to the roof, and Yasenia turned around while summoning her giant [Draconic heart] and summoning a [Draconic Crescent Moon] toward those rogue cultivators that began approaching.
BANG!
The extremely large semi-crescent impacted, killing a few and sending flying most of them.
The impact made all of them stop the reckless charge.
"Those who want to die, step forward." Yasenia's lips arched as her auras blasted around the room like a tsunami. "Let me see how deep a cultivator's greed goes."
After she finished speaking, it wasn't just Yasenia. The rest of the girls summoned their weapons and fully unleashed their auras.
It felt like the light pillar was twisting as a hurricane of energies surrounded our girls.
Tatyana, Valeria, and Mirrory didn't fully unleash their own strength, but they released a feeling comparable to their masters, or for Tatyana, to Yasenia's.
So, it felt like two Yasenias, two Angels, and Two Kalis were mixed in the auras strength-wise, making the feeling of dread coming from them even more terrible.
The faces of every single cultivator became ugly as their bodies trembled under the coercion of such an intimidating atmosphere.
"Yasenia, you have made a mistake."
Yu Lei's aura exploded with green lightning, and most of the other top clans followed suit.
Even with the numbers advantage, the spectators still felt that Yasenia's group felt more terrifying.
Yu Lei spoke as a representative after seeing the slow-paced filling of the golden door. "Yasenia, you are just a newly founded group. If we combine the numbers of the Nine Sects, top ten Thirty-Three Clans, and Three Empires, there are more than 200 low-level Epoch Core cultivators present. If we add the rogue cultivators, the numbers become much larger. You have no chance of winning. Give up the golden key obediently."
Yasenia laughed, her War Intent dying her iris with a bloody red color. "Even if you could kill me, only one person would be able to use my key. Do you think the rogue cultivators here will help the oh-so-mighty top powers at the cost of their lives?"
Yu Lei spoke threateningly. "Inside the secret realm, we might have comparable strength. But remember that you will eventually leave this place."
Yasenia sneered. "And so? I will tell you now, but the techniques we will get are either related to Life, Space, the Moon, or those high-tier attributes. Will your leaders fight against my power for that kind of thing when they didn't even buy the [Immortal Sun Obliterating Body Technique]?"
Yu Lei frowned. "How can you waste such a precious opportunity on something like that? I don't believe you!"
Yasenia shook her head. "Yu Lei. Forget about the outside or what I will do with the rewards. The only people who would be able to intimidate me to give up the key are those here in this room, but you fail to do so."
Yasenia spun her giant sword once and smirked. "Moreover, it is clear that the key will fall in either of the top three of the Thirty-Three Clans, the Three Empires, or the strongest of the Nine Sects. So, forcing others to fight for your treasure is something I would honestly love to see."
Yu Lei's face became dark, and Yasenia's face became cold. "Show me, oh mighty leader of the Thirty-Three clans, how you ask people to die for your cause. I would love to see if they are willing to face a True Dragon."
Her dragon form appeared to materialize behind her, and with a burst of bloodline aura, it roared with enough strength to make the air tremble.
Every beast human felt a mountain of pressure, and their faces became even more tense.
**************************************************************
Kali: Wow~.
Evelyn: Hehe, this will make them think twice about attacking us.
Andrea: At this pace, we might pass without being attacked.
Yasenia: Really?
Andrea: Probably.
Yasenia: I should've held back a bit…
The rest: …
Author: Cough, I summon you!
Andrew Miles: Yo!
Cecile: Hm.
Andrew Miles: I have a question for all of you today, girls.
Kali: Let's hear it.
Andrew Miles: What was your reaction to your first humanoid kill? Did your guardians prepare you for it?
Yasenia: Who starts saying?
Evelyn: How about you go first, love?
Yasenia: Sure. In my case, Mom prepared a few people guilty of attacking me and taught me that enemies must be killed. Then, I pierced their hearts with my sword. The feelings at that time were calmness and understanding. I knew that I needed strength and that if I were weak, I would one day die like this person, full of grievances and unable to even resist a child.
Andrew Miles: How old were you?
Yasenia: I think I was… four?
Andrea Miles: Yes?
Yasenia: Is there something wrong?
Andrea Miles: Cough, no.
Tatyana: A dragon's psyche is very different. Don't you remember Kaleina killing a small beast not long ago?
Andrea Miles: Right…
Angel: Well, in my case. I was taught by picture books with my Big sister. I had my first kill when I was nineteen. My big sister forced me to do it because I was old enough. I felt awful for a few months, but when I started cultivating, it became just another memory. Cultivation has a calming effect on the mind if it isn't demonic cultivation, which significantly helps.
Evelyn: In my case, it was when I was fourteen, I think? When I learned about my father's reason for his death, I was too angry with my mother. One servant at that time was mocking me, and my mother gave me a choice to leave her alone or kill her. Resentful, I stabbed that woman. I had nightmares for a few weeks, but I adapted relatively quickly.
Andrea: I got it quite late; I think I was twenty-three. It was during a trip with the Academy that a woman tried to rob me, so I fought to the death. I felt nothing special besides a bit of sadness and emptiness. Seeing the person's opened and unblinking eyes is quite creepy. However, I was already an experienced cultivator, and in less than a week, I was back to normal.
Cecile: It was when I was twelve. While being hunted down, my father left to deal with a few for a second, and a weak beggar tried to attack me. I picked a wooden stick and killed him by stabbing him in the neck. Now that I think about it, Father probably left me there on purpose to teach me not to trust people easily and that I need strength. After all, he was a Transcendent Realm cultivator.
Kali: In my case, my first kill was similar to Andrea's. Before the thing with Alyssa happened, I was attacked more than once, but I usually left them alive. One person came back with a vengeance, so I killed him. I don't remember feeling remorse because he had been stalking me for a while.
Andrea Miles: I see. Thanks!
Author: And that's all for today! Bye-bye~.