After getting all the eggs and dividing the rewards among her people, Yasenia finally sets sail toward the underwater sect.
As they left, she asked. "How many of them did we get in the end?"
The maid in charge of collecting them spoke. "We managed to gather 789 eggs, not counting the 21 you took to carry toward the Astral Sky Sect."
Yasenia hummed. "So, 810 eggs. How many are intact eggs?"
The maid explained in detail. "264 of them are intact eggs, while the rest are damaged one way or another. Between those damaged, there are 43 that are bad enough to need an Earth-rank pill to keep their functions. The rest, we could do with magic-level and below pills."
Yasenia titled her head. "Earth rank… well. I hope they are worth it." While our dragoness didn't mind using tens or hundreds of heaven-ranked materials for her family, using them for other people was another matter. She was very strict and realistic about those. And, in her opinion, the magic level was the maximum quality they should've used to save the eggs. Still, those 42 pills were all low-level Earth Rank, so Yasenia didn't say much.
Moreover, while the mother of these jellyfish eggs was very powerful, the fact that she could lay so many eggs meant that their survival rate was abysmal. You must realize that the falling rocks crushed around ninety-six percent of the eggs.
Knowing this fact, Yasenia had expectations for this creature, but she wasn't too excited. Still, as a mount for the sect, it was perfect. 'Since survival is low in the wild, that means that taking care of it is difficult. Only those who do so with actual care and not just to gain a powerful weapon will be able to make them grow to their true potential. The rest will remain mediocre. My objective with the sect mount is not so much strengthening the disciples but having a neat feature that could help those who gain enough Astral Sky Points and spend them wisely.'
As she considered these matters, Cecile approached and asked, grabbing her hand. "Do you know how to navigate out of this place? Can I help you?"
Yasenia smiled and looked at her. "Of course, I know. While we are in the middle of the ocean, this warship is designed to navigate even dark space. Of course, there is something that tells you your position and can guide you. There is no need to trouble yourself with these matters."
Cecile looked at the complex formation Yasenia was looking at with curiosity. It was drawn on a lightly inclined surface with many complex lines, symbols, runes and opened lots for energy crystals.
She had some understanding of formations, like almost every cultivator, so she could guess how to operate the essential functions of the flying ship. Cecile was confident in moving the warship to her will, but she would need to be taught for complex maneuvering or skill usage.
Most cultivators had a basic knowledge of formations because their lines, symbols, and items mixed with energy to "speak" the "Heaven's Language" and create effects. Said in another way, a formation told the heavens and energy around it how to behave, hence their flexible and almost unlimited use.
Knowing this, cultivators who advanced through the realms while understanding heaven's path had a basic understanding of formations. However, this knowledge was extremely limited and considered completely ignorant by proper formation masters.
It was something like seeing a complex math equation while knowing basic math; you would understand some separate things but not the whole meaning. The "basic math" you know also served you for daily purposes, but anything complicated would fly completely over your head.
Formations were similar. Essential use was not a problem for most cultivators, but anything beyond that needed a lot of practice, understanding, and work.
Cecile asked, curious. "How do you know where we are."
Yasenia used her free hand and pointed at a few places of the formation. "These lines and symbols tell your approximate coordinates relative to an 'Origin.' The cultivator usually chooses the origin with these formation lines over here. Once chosen, the warship would calculate everything with that point in space as a reference."
Yasenia used her free fingers and poured energy into the formation, making some lines and symbols move and transform. Soon, a few numbers and strange characters appeared in the air before them. "Look, these are our current coordinates. The origin is our home in the Astral Sky Sect, the middle of the back garden, to be precise. It is also anchored with the entire Distancia Continent. If not, the origin would shift as Distancia moves through space."
Cecile blinked. "Distancia moves? You mean the continent?"
Yasenia shook her head. "I mean the world, sweetheart. Distancia is different from the Sky Continent. The Sky Continent is a planar world, meaning it is flat and within its own dimension. To explore other places, you need proper means to break through barriers and go outside or enter. That's why the Demons couldn't really send a large group to it, even though there are plenty of middle-level worlds infested with them. The reason for the Divines and other races to come to fight them is also similar."
Cecile blinked and nodded; Yasenia continued. "Distancia is different. It is an actual world that has their sub-heaven help it orbit a star instead of a star orbiting Distancia, like in the Sky Continent."
Cecile nodded again, understanding. "Why are they different."
Yasenia paused and titled her head. "I honestly don't know. I haven't read that far into the literature of planets, heavens, and stars. However, I think it has to do with the birth of the world. If the world was a naturally born world and then it became influenced by the heavens, then they are like Distancia. Instead, if the heavens create the world from zero, they are like the Sky Continent. However, don't quote me on that. We have yet to learn a lot about these things, as they are complicated."
Yasenia smiled wryly. "And don't get me started on natural forces and heaven laws contradictions. For example, you know gravity, right?"
Cecile nodded, and Yasenia asked. "Look at Distancia. How big is it? Like, the entire World."
Cecile imagined it and answered. "Big."
Yasenia burst into laughter. "Okay, fair enough. But how does it compare with the Sky Continent?"
Cecile played the maps of the two places side by side in her head and answered. "Small."
Yasenia kissed her pretty lips, finding her adorable. "That's right, and yet. If you jump here with the same strength as you jump on the Sky Continent, do you take longer to fall?"
Cecile paused, and her eyes widened; Yasenia smirked. "Right? Gravity seems to be a fixed force. But, if you go to places that aren't under heaven's watch, like those rogue worlds, gravity is actually a changing law dependent on mass."
Cecile said. "So, heaven's laws are above natural laws?"
Yasenia titled her head. "Well, we are still too young and ignorant to guess these things, but I personally think that's true. Still, natural laws are not weak by any means. Soluna's body, for example, is a marvel that balances both natural and heaven laws."
Cecile frowned. "Does this matter to us?"
Yasenia blinked and tilted her head. "Well, there are probably cultivators stronger than Mom that have never even thought about this, so… Not really. It's a neat fact, though."
Cecile's frown relaxed. "Good."
Yasenia burst into laughter again, hugging her and raining kisses on her face. "You are sometimes adorable, sweetheart."
Cecile smiled happily at Yasenia's kisses, her wings and tails flapping joyfully behind her.
Yasenia then turned toward the ship's formation. "I've digressed. Anyway, to guide me, I use these coordinates and have memorized the coordinates of the important places that we've been to. It doesn't matter where we are; as long as we are in the same dimension, we will be able to reach it with this
Cecile looked at Yasenia and spoke. "Dimensions are another deep subject, right?"
Yasenia's lips twitched. "Don't get me started on that. While we, as Transcendence Cultivators, will start to be able to create a mini dimension, I really don't understand them right now. Of course, I know what they are, and I know a few facts about them. However, their creation, even when I read books about them, is a complete word soup that I don't know how to swallow."
Cecile muttered. "If even you have trouble understanding, I probably won't understand it."
Yasenia chopped her forehead and then buried her face in her large breasts. "There, there. My Cecile is the cleverest Phoenix in the world. If you want to, you will be able to understand it."
Cecile's wings started flapping again, and she felt the softness surrounding her head, with bliss written all over her face. The other girls also came, and they all started talking, killing time until they arrived.
It took around an hour to arrive because Yasenia took her time while traveling through the ocean. If they were going through the air, the journey would've probably not lasted more than a minute.
The option of going up in the air to make the travel was always there, but Yasenia was really not hasty to move, so she just took her time. Moreover, they could also have a nice view of the vast ocean unfolding before them as they traveled, which was a pleasant experience.
Once they arrived, Yasenia told everyone to disembark and then stored it while moving the 789 eggs with her energy control. The people from the Astral Sky Abyss Sect looked at Yasenia with curiosity while some of the elders approached and asked.
"Respected Elder, what is the Sect Master carrying?"
The elder that got asked looked over and smiled. "We have managed to secure a powerful beast's eggs. The beast was not intelligent, so the Sect Master thought that raising and using them as reward mounts for sect members was a good idea."
The junior's eyes widened while an older woman asked. "is that true? I think that there are no sects in the entire Distancia Continent that have such a feature, right?"
The Elder laughed and pointed with his chin. "Well, all those eggs are just the first batch. The sect will probably take part of the first batch to breed them while placing some for sale. However, they are not cheap! I think each egg costs similar to a peak-level Earth Rank equipment."
The juniors sucked in a cold breath.
"Peak-level Earth Rank!? The most I can afford right now is middle-level Magic Rank…"
"Wow, that's really expensive."
"How many years would it take to save for such an expensive item?"
"Ugh. And here I was getting excited about it."
An elder at the side rubbed his chin and commented. "The Sect Master probably wants to sell them to the higher-level cultivators while also giving elders another choice to reward their juniors. It's honestly perfect for it to be expensive. If not, any of us could buy a batch of them."
The juniors blinked and smirked.
"Hehe, I'll have to earn favor with Master!"
"Right? I'm going before they realize~."
"Hmph, my Master loves me the most, so I will just have to ask to get it."
"Braggart, I saw you being spanked the other day by her!"
"H-HUH!? T-That didn't happen!"
The juniors left while discussing enthusiastically, and some elders shook their heads with smiles. Still, they were all thinking about trying to save and buy one for their children, nieces, or nephews. While there was a rule that these mounts were sect-member specific, some seniors had their teachers attending the sect as well, so it wasn't impossible.
The first jellyfish egg sold was actually from a high-ranking elder toward their niece, making that niece proud and smug for a while.
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These are some discord emojis I've done~. The discord link is in the synopsis. (Also, there is no Cecile because I forgot QAQ)
Yasenia-> patreon.com/posts/yasenia-emoji-103958737
Angel-> patreon.com/posts/angel-emoji-103958738
Tatyana-> patreon.com/posts/tatyana-emoji-103958739
Andrea-> patreon.com/posts/andrea-emoji-103958741
Evelyn-> patreon.com/posts/evelyn-emoji-103958742
Kali-> patreon.com/posts/kali-emoji-103958743