After stepping into the formation, Yasenia appeared in the middle of a large arena. It was surrounded by a dome with holes all over it. Lighting was done with some kind of non-natural source because she couldn't spot anything that would illuminate this place as it was, and the floor was a layer of soil.
The dome walls were light-colored, making the black holes even more pronounced. Finally, there were no doors, no windows, and only a formation on the front. Analyzing it quickly, she found traces of the ones that had been used until now, and Yasenia could guess that it was a teleporting formation to either go somewhere or return.
Moreover, there was a strange, thin, finger-sized red crystal floating in the middle of the room at her waist height.
"It's a shame that I'm alone for this second test… I wanted to compete again with my dears. Also…" Yasenia smirked. "Trying to steal those [Library Tickets] would've been interesting. Did the creator predict that cultivators would fight for them and make the following tests individual?"
Yasenia found that plausible, but if the creator wanted worthy people, not making us interact with each other would be silly.
After thoroughly observing her surroundings, the timer for people to take the portal to the second test reached zero.
The dragoness tensed and made energy run through her body, just in case.
The man's low-pitched voice echoed in the arena, reaching Yasenia. "Welcome to the second event. The second event is an endurance and agility test. Attacks will fly your way relative to your strength, and you must resist them. When you can't endure it anymore, break the red crystal, and the attacks will stop."
Yasenia approached the red crystal item and placed it between her white mountains. Then, using a bit of energy, she kept it in place. 'This way, breaking it will be quite easy. I just have to squeeze my breasts with energy to burst it~.'
The item was naturally fragile so as not to cause accidents. But it was hard enough not to break without a cultivator's intention to do so.
The man's voice was heard again. "This is not just an endurance test but also a competition. The longer you last, the better you will do."
On top of the formation at the corner of the room, the number 2192 appeared. It was the number of competitors left after the hour-long monster wave section.
"The test will continue until fifty people remain. Breaking the red crystal doesn't disqualify you from continuing to participate in the [Library of Trials]. It just signifies that you can't continue with this challenge, and it will give you a position between the [2192] people participating. As said before, the challenge is real and lethal. The attacks have deadly force behind them, so being arrogant can lead to death. Please be mindful and do not be too greedy. Otherwise, this challenge will be your death. In ten seconds, the walls will launch one attack so that you can see the force behind them."
[10]
[9]
[8]
Yasenia blinked and shrunk [Draconic Heart] to a long sword length. While her broadsword was better for fighting other cultivators, this challenge required agility.
[7]
[6]
[5]
The taller than her body weapon transformed and became an elegant, slim, and smooth sword perfect for cutting and swinging.
[4]
[3]
[2]
Yasenia's slit eyes thinned, and her spiritual sense covered the entirety of the dome, allowing her to feel every inch of the entire place as if she was looking at it.
[1]
[0]
A slight fluctuation appeared around her right top side, and Yasenia quickly turned and looked over.
With her sharpened senses, she saw an arrow being blasted through one of the black holes about at the middle height of the dome and rushing toward her quickly.
Yasenia, however, tilted her head. "It's not that quick…"
She lightly swung her tail instead of her sword to test the power behind the attack. It might have been deceitful, after all.
She hardened her beautiful blue scales that shone with white glittering lights, like a night sky full of stars, and also tensed her powerful and intricate muscles.
Right after, the arrow and her tail collided.
CLANG!
The sound of an arrow hitting a metal plate echoed, and it bounced off. Yasenia felt a small tingling for a fraction of a second, but once she looked at the impact zone, her tail was not even scratched.
Yasenia's lips twitched. 'Can't I just transform into my dragon form and resist the whole thing?'
The dragoness felt a bit lost. Since the trials were prepared to take into account the cultivation level, for someone like her who had the strength of a cultivator much ahead of her own strength level, the waves and this test felt very lacking.
Therefore, Yasenia got creative. 'That would be too easy, so let's make a challenge. I need to avoid all the arrows touching my skin. But I can use my tail to block.'
Yasenia nodded and continued listening.
The man spoke. "Take into account that the number of arrows per second will exponentially increase per minute, but the strength will be similar unless the tenth minute arrives and more than fifty people remain."
Yasenia suddenly thought. 'Wait, during all this time, couldn't my baby have built a powerful formation?'
Imagining if the competition was for first place, Yasenia felt that she had no chance, even if she took Tatyana out of the picture. 'Not only Baby, but Darling's regenerating magma armor, little Ebirah's hard shell, and even Sweetheart with her flames and regeneration. Wait, Honey, with her summons, and even Dear and Sierra with their "speed" focused fighting style…'
Surprise filling her eyes, Yasenia realized that the competition would've been exciting if not for the "top fifty" condition. She couldn't help but feel upset, as if someone had placed a piece of delicious food in front of her mouth but suddenly decided not to give it to her. 'I hope the people can resist until I can compete with them on a noticeable level… At least, let me experience the tenth minute.'
"The first round will start in thirty breaths. You will see the number of arrows per second below the number of competitors left."
Yasenia looked over and saw the number "2." She was about to become even grumpier, but then she remembered that the numbers would increase exponentially. 'Let's just hope for the best.'
The countdown to begin the event eventually reached zero, and the trial officially started.
Yasenia's spiritual sense caught the two fluctuations and leisurely flicked her tail.
CLANG! CLANG!
Yasenia nodded after it was indeed two arrows per second and began using her own skills to prepare for the later stages.
While leisurely flicking the arrows, [Starry Sky] activated, and she gathered stars around her. Simultaneously, the dragoness deployed [Star Night Domain], creating an ethereally beautiful view around her.
[Star Night Domain] was a skill she understood back in the War Trial, together with her other domains, which then fused to create an embryo state of [Empyrean Galaxy Domain], the skill that then became complete once she unlocked her Innate Skills.
However, using them individually was still possible even if it was now part of a more powerful domain skill. The benefit of using them separately was the much lower energy consumption rate.
This star-attributed domain created an area where "stars" were created, similar to [Starry Sky], and automatically clashed with projectiles attacking Yasenia. It could also be used to enhance all her star-attributed skills, which used stars to get stronger, like, for example, [Star Charge] or [Starfall].
The difference with [Starry Sky] was the number and strength of the "stars" she created. While [Starry Sky] shaped not as many but mighty "stars," [Star Night Domain] did the opposite, focusing on forming many more while not being as powerful.
When both skills were activated, her surroundings were painted with beautiful white glittering orbs of light while the stronger ones from [Starry Sky] orbited around her at a very close distance.
The stunning dragon woman surrounded by stars was a striking image that would make anybody pause to look at her.
Meanwhile, whenever an arrow shot toward Yasenia, one of the fainter orbs ballooned to one meter in diameter and clashed with the incoming arrow, damaging it enough and deviating it. 'Well, now I just need to wait until my domain can't protect me.'
Therefore, Yasenia just stood there, not even her tail moved. Our dragoness was saying that her girls were strong competitors, but she forgot that the ones that had to be afraid, other than Angel with her formations, were them.
After one minute, the firing rate of the beams doubled to four per second. Still, Yasenia and the girls effortlessly blocked them.
The number of competitors stayed the same. Yasenia nodded. She wouldn't know what to say if somebody got eliminated in the first minute.
Still, four per second was as easy for Yasenia and our other girls as the previous minute.
Kali was standing in the middle of an army of summons specialized for anti-air attacks, speaking with Valeria leisurely and ignoring the arrows altogether.
Andrea was leisurely swinging her halberd and deviating the arrows, and even if an arrow managed to pass through, her magma armor would block it completely. If, by a miracle, the arrow could pierce through her armor, she had a second layer of quasi-transcendent armor waiting for it.
Evelyn was spinning her spear; for her, these arrows moved in slow motion. She could catch them with her hands if she wanted to.
Sierra was using claw-like weapons and practicing her movements. Like Evelyn, the arrow speed was relatively slow, so she was perfecting her form as she moved. It was an excellent way to get used to her new human form, so she welcomed this challenge.
Angel was sitting in the middle of a defensive formation that could fire lasers to hit the arrows. Mirrory was floating around without aim while teaching Angel how to quickly read the energy flow to tell where an arrow would come from. With this information, our little baby was perfecting the formation she created, making it even more impossible to get hit.
Cecile was wielding her flames to consume the arrows before they even touched her, and even if they touched her, her [Moon Phoenix Flame Dress] was resilient enough to block them without mentioning how her natural regeneration could almost instantly heal the damage that these arrows could cause her.
Of all of them, Ebirah was the one making the least amount of effort. She had transformed into her beast form and lay on the ground, covering her eyes with her sturdy claws. The arrows didn't even scratch her beautiful pink crystal-like shell. So, her room was filled with the clinging sounds of arrows bouncing off her sturdy body.
Not to mention Tatyana, who was sitting on an armchair in the middle of a formation she built that was even more complex than Angel's. The moment a fluctuation appeared that signified that an arrow was about to be released, the formation created a cloud of Death Energy that rotted away the arrow mid-air, making nothing but powder to sprinkle downward.
The formation filled the entire room, so she had nothing to do. That's why she was sitting on the armchair, looking at an album of Yasenia's photos. You could read [Yasenia Pampered Photos, Volume 47 (10,000 Unique Photos!)] on the front part of the opened book.
For those who are curious, she is currently on page 450, and each page has four photos.
Like that, minutes passed, and the fifth minute arrived.
The number of arrows per second had already reached 32, so our girls had started paying attention. Well, a few of them.
***********************************************************
Yasenia: Why isn't there a button to make the arrows deadlier?
Evelyn: Love, and why would someone press that?
Yasenia: You could add extra rewards if someone pressed the button and still overcame the trial, no?
Evelyn: That's… An actual interesting idea?
Author: Well, while you girls discuss the test, let's summon today's dear. I summon you!
Cyan Mulder: Hello~.
Andrea: Hello, Cyan.
Cyan Mulder: Hello, Andrea~.
Yasenia: *Stare.*
Cyan Mulder: Cough. So, seniors. If Mirrory and Val had their own forms and were not attached and dependent on Angel and Kali, would that make Tatyana the weakest out of the three seniors?
Cyan Mulder: Also, Mirrory, the actual representation of Truth, and Val, of life, can they level up further than that?
Tatyana: Hm~?
Cyan Mulder: Mom, please don't kill me. I'm just asking... Also, why does Mirrory take so much energy from Angel when she fights, but Kali doesn't seem to be affected by Val in the same way? Why is that?
Author: Quite a few questions crammed into one, but since they are related, let's answer them.
Mirrory: *Smirk.* Hey, Tatyana, how about answering the first one?
Tatyana: Tsk, if you think that I'm afraid of admitting that I'm the weakest of us, you have yet to understand me.
Mirrory: *Rolls eyes* Boring.
Cyan Mulder: So, that's an affirmation?
Tatyana: Yes. My peak strength is nothing in front of these two archaic creatures. They could probably slap to death one thousand of me in their prime.
Cyan Mulder: I see.
Mirrory: The question about leveling up further depends on what you consider leveling up. If you mean cultivation-wise, yes, neither Valeria nor I have reached the limits of cultivations, if there are any.
Valeria: Finally, the reason I take much less energy than Mirrory is because I'm wholly assimilated with Kali and can also use my own energy storage. So, what I need from Kali is just a link between the "Spirit Realm" and "Real World" so that I can manifest and use the "Real World energy" for myself.
Valeria: Unlike me, who can materialize, Angel still can't bring out even a tiny part of Mirrory's real body into the "Real World." What Mirrory has been using until now is nothing but a "shadow" she can create to "channel" her powers. Therefore, she needs to use Angel's energy pool for her shenanigans until Angel can materialize at least a small part of her real body constantly.
Cyan Mulder: Wow…
Author: Wow, indeed. And that's all for today! Bye-bye!