The dragoness recovered in less than half a month thanks to all the pampering from her dears. The medicine might have had a good effect, but our dragoness was sure that all the pampering from her lovers was what helped the most.
The first thing she did after recovering was to evaluate her strength. After all, entering the Ethereal Soul Realm meant that Body Cultivation had entered the same realm as her Beast and Spiritual Cultivation, which meant that the gains were no longer small.
Also, in her mind, another two types of skills appeared for the new realm. One of them was called [Cosmic Sun/Moon/Star Nova]. It was a wide area of effect attack of the respective elements. A very rare type of skill in the Body Cultivation Path.
What piqued Yasenia's interest was the second skill she unlocked.
Until the fourth realm, Yasenia had unlocked an attack skill and a support skill. This time, it was similar. However, this skill was not a combat support skill.
The name of the skill she unlocked was [Celestial Cosmos Immortal Body Refinement]. After reading the skill name and description, the dragoness raised both her eyebrows. 'Isn't this the rarest type of Body Cultivation technique? Moreover, it has the entire name of the technique in it…'
From what Yasenia understood, Body Cultivation skills were not nearly as varied as Spiritual Techniques. Most of them were melee, attributeless, single-target skills of the offensive or defensive category. Movement techniques were also relatively common.
Area of effect skills were much more rare, similar to ranged abilities. Still, there was one type of skill that was much rarer, and those were refinement skills.
This type of skill is what allowed Spiritual Path cultivators to enhance their bodies to the point that they could somewhat compete with pure Body Cultivators in the same area.
What they did was use medicine, energy, or many other kinds of methods to refine the body as if it were a weapon.
They were very powerful, but because of how painful they were, most cultivators opted not to use them. Only a select few who didn't really care about themselves used them. You must realize that those who didn't weren't really cowardly because if they fainted during the "refinement," chances of receiving irreversible damage were quite great.
Yasenia read the summary. "Using the heat of the Sun, the chill of the Moon, and the pressure of the Stars, the cultivator can refine their flesh, bones, and organs to become impenetrable by any weapon or attack. Those with [Celestial Energy] will be able to increase the effectiveness and speed of the skill with much more ease, speed, and results."
The dragoness pondered and looked around. She was currently in the garden area, with the morning Sun radiating in the clear sky, and sitting on a mound of soft and comfortable grass.
There weren't many people around her. Five maids, Kaleina and Flame.
Focusing on the scroll again, she read the method she needed to practice it, and her lips twitched. 'I need to what now?'
The dragoness sighed, looking at the sky with a resigned expression. 'Really, gaining strength is not easy.'
Tatyana's voice reached her from the communication device. "Little Treasure, are you ready to spar?"
Yasenia pondered and shook her head. "I need to practice one skill for about… Four hours? I'm not sure, but it shouldn't be longer than eight. I'll join you later."
Tatyana asked. "Do you need help?"
Yasenia read the skill again. "Hm… For now, I don't."
Tatyana nodded. "Sure, tell me when you are done. By the way, have you learned what you need to do in the Ethereal Soul Realm to advance?"
The dragoness nodded confidently. "I need to use my soul to temper my body, right?"
"That's right."
Yasenia commented. "It's quite interesting that the fourth realm of the Body Cultivation Path needs soul strength."
Tatyana laughed. "While focusing on the body is correct, if a Body Cultivator never trained their soul, they would just fall to one illusion attack. They are weaker soul-wise, but it's not to the point of being toyed around by those who control Soul-related skills. Moreover, tempering the body with the soul grants a good amount of resistance to soul attacks. It is a needed realm."
"Hm. I'm curious, though. Reading the theory, I couldn't really find the existence of innate skills in the Body Path. What happens with them?"
Tatyana commented. "Innate skills are closely tied to the bloodline and constitution. Body Cultivation focuses on the flesh, unlike Spiritual Cultivation, which focuses on bringing out the potential of everything in the body equally. Innate skills are certainly strong, but a tempered body is as strong. This path is more raw toward gaining strength, but not less effective."
Tatyana chuckled. "The only reason you've been able to match up physically to body cultivators, other than your buffing skills, is that you are a beast. While not all of the bodily strength is translated to your humanoid body, a big part of it does. If not, beasts that can transform into humanoid forms would lose all their strength when transforming."
Yasenia agreed. "Other than tempering the body with the soul, is there anything else I need to take into account?"
Tatyana answered. "No. The Body Cultivation Path is very straightforward. Still, it will hurt like hell, so be prepared, little treasure, hahaha."
Yasenia sighed. "I will. By the way, I've gained a body refinement method. That's what I wanted to practice during these hours. Anything I need to look out for?"
Tatyana sighed with admiration. "An immortal rank technique has its perks, after all. Regarding what you need to consider, there is nothing you don't know. If you need any help, ask us."
"I want to try doing the refinement myself without help. If I can't, it would mean that I won't be able to practice it if I'm alone, which makes it quite burdensome."
Tatyana smiled on the other side of the device. "That's how it should be. It will now hurt double since you must temper and refine your body."
Yasenia's eyebrow twitched. "Thanks for reminding me."
"Hahaha." Tatyana laughed and cut the connection.
Yasenia sighed and called the two little ones. "Kaleina, Flame."
The young purple and gold eastern dragon crawled toward her with a slithering motion and the help of her frontal legs, followed closely by a trotting ten-year-old with beautiful red wings.
Both of them threw themselves in Yasenia's arms, and the dragoness caught them with a laugh. "Did you have fun?"
Kaleina nodded with a bright smile. "Yes!"
Flame also nodded, feeling a bit shy by Yasenia's comfortable hug.
"Well, Mommy has to go and cultivate, so you can either stay here a bit longer or go to Kaleina's other moms. You can choose. Okay?"
"Okay~!"
Both of them answered, and Yasenia stood up, flashing away after giving each of them a kiss on the forehead.
Yasenia began preparing for the body tempering and refinement after reaching her cultivation cave.
The way to do it was to create a rather complicated formation using a few materials like [Lunar Blue Stones], [Solar Streaking Iron], [Stellar Dive Metal], and similar.
What would've happened if Yasenia hadn't known formations? Well, she would've needed to either learn or ask for help.
Thankfully, Yasenia has not stopped practicing her secondary professions. Even if she was not the most talented, she was not helpless. Having extra knowledge was not something bad, and instead of just accompanying her dears and doing nothing, she used that time to continue to increase her knowledge.
First, she created the corresponding [Formation Ink] and used the pen Tatyana gave her in the past, called [Earth Dragon Nail Formation Pen].
Carefully placing the rocks in the places where the scroll told her to and slowly painting the complex lines that melded with the energy in the surroundings, Yasenia set up everything in about one and a half hours.
Looking at the five-meter-wide formation, Yasenia was satisfied. She stepped inside and stood in the center of it, taking a deep breath and taking her usual cultivating stance.
Then, she moved.
Like an ethereal mirage, her arms, legs, and tail moved in exceptional synchrony that couldn't be compared to what she did at first.
As she moved and warmed up her body, the image of her soul manifested around her.
The majestic dragon didn't have the usual size, being large enough just to grab one person with its claws.
Then, a translucent sphere appeared around Yasenia, surrounding her entire body. The dragon's phantom slowly lowered its claws and grabbed the sphere from both sides.
Right after, the muscles of its entire body bulged as it mercilessly squeezed the sphere.
Yasenia, who was moving in a trance, stopped as her face crumpled, and an involuntary scream of pain escaped her throat. "AH!"
All the effects around her disappeared when Yasenia stopped moving. The dragoness blinked twice, not expecting so much pain. Moreover, because she was in a trance, she clearly felt everything severalfold.
Yasenia took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second, trying to remember that painful feeling. The sensation was quite similar to what it looked but on a much deeper level.
She felt her entire soul squeezing on her body, trying to crumple her into a ball. Each of her muscles, organs, and bones felt the squeeze at once, including her spine, head, and even brain.
However, it was not a physical squeeze. Even when she stopped almost immediately, she recalled the sensation of energy from the surroundings being forcefully stored in her body.
Suddenly, she recalled one of the things she had read about the Ethereal Soul Realm. "It said that for some, it hurt more than for others, but there wasn't a clear specification as to why."
However, for Yasenia, it felt quite clear. "It's soul strength. The reason people from Distancia don't know is that they don't pay any attention whatsoever to the soul. Even if someone discovered it in the past, they were probably labeled as people saying dribble. After all, without a deep knowledge about the soul, it is probably impossible to prove directly without making it sound like speculation."
Thinking as such, Yasenia didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "My soul strength… It's my strongest quality and by a large amount."
In terms of Spiritual Path measurements, her Soul was at least on par with a level 6 or 7 Dantian Spiritualization Realm cultivator.
It was absurd to that extent. Even some of the level 3 and 4 maids had less soul strength than Yasenia, which could tell you just how large it is. There were many reasons for this, but the more prominent were first, Tatyana nourishing her soul before she was even born; second, the special qualities of the Tribulations by the Gods that increased her overall strength; and third, the few pills she took had used in the past to increase it further.
One that Tatyana gave her even before the Tournament was quite powerful, the one called [Mind Reinforcement Pill]. Then, the [Beast Physique Pill] also influenced her soul, the same for the powerful [Beauty Pill] she ingested in the past, and the [Element Enhancing Pills] like [Sun Enhancing Pill], etc.
And these were just the stronger ones.
With Kali in their squad, the number of reinforcing pills they've ingested was in the three digits. Plus, the food Yasenia cooked also had permanent strength buffs.
On top of all of this, since Yasenia has discovered this, she would naturally increase her spiritual cultivation to the half-step to spiritualize the dantian and further increase her soul's strength so that her tempering would be even stronger.
In short, Yasenia's soul was stacked, and she was about to multiply its strength.
She took out the communication device to inform her dears of her discovery, just in case they hadn't realized.
Before connecting it, she paused as she pictured her near future.
'I'm going to suffer quite a bit, eh?'
Yasenia smiled wryly, her tail flopping on the ground.
**************************************************************
Andrea: Love, I'm cheering for you.
Yasenia: *Throws herself in her arms, acting pampered.* Darling, I don't want to cultivate anymore~.
Andrea: *Holding back her imminent nosebleed.* Y-You must, Love.
Yasenia: *Puppy eyes* I must?
Andrea: …
Andrea: Well, now that I think about how about-.
Evelyn: You can't give in, Andrea! Steel your heart!
Yasenia: *Supper soft and cute puppy eye attack.* Dear?
Evelyn: *Freezes for a second before clutching her heart* her power(cuteness) level is immeasurable… I can't… win… Ugh.
Author: And so, they were all defeated, and Yasenia stopped cultivating forever.
The rest: …
Author: I summon you!
Andrew Miles: Hello!
Yasenia: Hello.
Andrew Miles: Have Angel, Evelyn, Kali, Andrea, and Cecile had any ideas on how to deal with not seeing Yasenia when you or she enter a closed-door cultivation session? I imagine you are getting to the stage where it could be required for studying techniques or intents in the near future.
Andrea: I have no problems. Isolation for cultivating is something taught from very early on. The only reason we are not doing it right now is because Yasenia's Dual cultivation Technique is just faster and better than us going into seclusion for ourselves.
Andrew Miles: Oh. That makes sense.
Angel: Hm. But, if we have to, although I will miss Yasenia very, very, very much, we can do it without problems.
Evelyn: Yep, it's a normal part of our lives
Cecile: Hm.
Andrew Miles: I see. Thanks for answering!
Author: And that's all for today! Bye-bye!