When Evelyn got close, Yasenia gently hugged her and looked around her body. While Evelyn was acting cheerful, how could the dragoness not understand that it was to hide her condition and not worry her? The tribulation was anything but easy, and Yasenia knew it. Even with her constitution, Evelyn was not as okay as she seemed.
Yasenia gave her a kiss on the cheek and spoke, her voice gentle and soothing. "Alright, you can now tell me where it hurts. No need to force yourself not to worry me, Dear. I know those last two strikes were much more burdensome than you made them to be. Let's go to the infirmary, okay? We need to check your wounds and treat them."
Evelyn opened and closed her mouth a few times. She couldn't help but feel her heart warm up through all the pain she was currently bearing. Yasenia's warmth and love were so welcoming and made her feel so secure and protected that she almost threw herself in her arms to whine about it.
To avoid that, she looked down a bit, nodding obediently. If she spoke, she would for sure act to her desires.
Yasenia understood her dear's shyness when showing public affection, so she smiled softly and picked her up with extreme care, using her long and powerful tail to avoid straining any of Evelyn's muscles.
The hug was all-encompassing, making Evelyn feel like she was reclining on a comfortable seat instead of being picked up. Her legs were resting on the tail, while her buttocks were supported by Yasenia's arm and her back by a curling part of the dragon tail. 'Sigh… This is so comfortable.'
Evelyn let herself be carried while feeling happy and fluffy inside. Of course, other than her feelings of love for Yasenia, the sensation of pain all around her body felt a bit stronger. Not because it hurt more but because she thought she didn't need to be strong, so her desire to complain about it to her lover conflicted with her wish to appear strong and dependable.
Her body was heavily damaged. Her meridians had to resist the pure Heavenly Lightning wrecking through when she was absorbing it. While her body was undoubtedly extremely good at breaking down Lightning Energies, regardless of their source, Heavenly Lightning was one of the purest forms of it, making it difficult to purify enough to be absorbed.
Therefore, while outwardly Evelyn had a few bad burns but nothing too significant, inside, she was in a terrible state. Damaged meridians, burst veins, injured organs, her body was not in lethal range, but her injuries were everything but light.
The fact that she could act as she did while probably feeling like her insides were on fire and being twisted was a testament to her incredibly sturdy will and mental strength.
While Yasenia carried Evelyn away, Angel approached her with a smile. "Yasenia! I'm going to start my tribulation while you carry Evelyn away!"
The dragoness blinked with surprise and asked while looking at her. "You don't want me to look from the beginning? Are you sure, Baby?"
Angel giggled and shook her head. "I feel like there is no need~. I'm strong!"
Yasenia carefully bent down to avoid injuring Evelyn and kissed Angel's forehead, an action that Evelyn welcomed as Yasenia's breasts rested on her body like two warm and soft clouds of joy and comfort. 'They are just… perfect.'
"Don't be overconfident, okay love? You are carrying the inheritance of a Saint, so the tribulation will be anything but weak. While you have Mirrory, remember to not depend on her during these events as much as possible."
Angel nodded a few times with a large smile, her big blue eyes looking determined and confident. "I won't be overconfident!"
Yasenia smiled widely, feeling that her baby was getting cuter by the day. "Good, my baby is the best and most clever. I love you."
Angel laughed and hugged Yasenia's side. "Hehehehe." Then, she looked at Evelyn and cheered her up. "You did really well! Get well soon, Evelyn."
Evelyn, who had been reduced to a shy little girl by Yasenia's care and love, nodded softly. "Thank you, Angel."
Angel found this kind of Evelyn adorable and almost laughed. 'She is so adorable when Yasenia pampers her. Hahaha.'
Yasenia turned around and carried Evelyn away, using her movement technique to disappear like a blue shadow. Behind her, a few of the maids with medical knowledge followed. Valeria and Kali stayed to attend to any unexpected problems that Angel might face. Evelyn was not in any immediate danger, after all.
Angel looked at Yasenia leave with a smile and turned around, skipping toward the middle of the Tribulation Plaza. The girls stayed here because Yasenia was already with Evelyn, so their presence was redundant, as the dragoness would probably pamper her for a while.
Cecile spoke with a faint smile. "Go for it."
Angel looked over with a resolute nod and clenched her fists for a second. After that, she relaxed her hands and her body with them. Her demeanor quickly shifted to a calmer and more calculated one as she focused on the energy inside her Dantian.
When a cultivator was about to break through, the Dantian would look active and full of energy. The feeling of fullness was transmitted to the cultivator as if they had eaten a lot. Moreover, if they tried to cultivate as usual, they would feel the strain when trying to increase their Dantian's energy.
This feeling was a sign that they had more than enough energy to break through. Many, or better said, almost every cultivator, chose to tackle the cultivating at this moment. However, what our girls were doing was different.
After reaching this point, they continued absorbing energy at a much gentler pace while trying to press everything tighter and more compact. They fed their entire body and used all they had at their disposal to absorb more and more energy.
These actions were what people called perfecting the foundation. Now, why didn't everyone do that? The reason was much simpler than you would think. It was just too much work and time for a very faint increase in strength.
Most cultivators felt that it was not worth it because, if they used the time to perfect their foundation to increase their level and breakthrough, they would become stronger faster.
And they were right. Perfecting the foundation was highly time-consuming. Hence, Yasenia, who had a ridiculous cultivation speed, thanks to her tail's properties and other items in her Dantian, needed insane amounts of energy to perfect this foundation.
Yasenia also did not aim for half-assed perfection. She wanted not to be able to even absorb energy before breaking through. That's what she had been doing before now, and that's what Yasenia would continue doing after she broke through.
When Angel looked inside her Dantian, the space was tremendously vast. However, all this space was not her actual Dantian. Because the Dantian was spiritualized and inside her soul, she was currently looking at Mirrory's space.
It was practically endless. In this inner world, Mirrory was floating mid-air with her legs crossed and her eyes shut. When Angel's conscience entered, Mirrory slowly opened her eyes and looked at where her "gaze" was coming from.
"Ready to break through?"
Angel's body suddenly materialized inside her soul; it was nothing but a projection. However, Angel's ability to do this meant that her control over her soul was superb. Angel was naturally taught by Mirrory. All the times they've trained together, Mirrory's lessons were only about the basics: weapon control, energy control, body control, and soul control.
For now, Mirrory had yet to teach a single skill. However, her training method had made Angel's basics reach an unbelievable degree of proficiency.
Angel nodded. "I am."
Mirrory commented. "This will be your first real tribulation since you got into a contract with me. The Body cultivation tribulations were for lower realms, so nothing dangerous there. Now, for this tribulation, the influence of your Saint inheritance will be noted."
Angel listened attentively.
"Saints are people beloved by the Heavens. They've done something significant enough to affect the entire cultivation world in a positive way. Of course, positive is subjective, and this positive is what the Heavens consider a good development."
Mirrory paused. "Let's not go there, though." Mirrory looked at Angel and continued. "Saints are beloved, and their inheritors should also be loved by them, right?"
Angel nodded, but Mirrory answered. "Wrong."
Angel blinked, confused. "Why?"
Mirrory commented. "Because Saint inheritors did not do the act that led the Heavens to give them the title. The title of Saint should not be inherited. However, Saints are living beings too, and while most of them have hearts of gold and souls as pure as the heavenly water from the Heaven Pierce mountain, as creatures, they want to leave a legacy. Not a told legacy, but one that would last through the eras of change."
Mirrory floated down and poked Angel's forehead. "Fu Jing Jing, the woman who got the title and passed it down to you, is an original Saint. Meaning she got her title without inheritance. I've explained it a few times, but her feat was preventing the complete restart of the cultivation World by the enraged Heavens by using me and sacrificing her life."
Angel nodded, her face showing respect. Mirrory continued. "Fu Jing Jing was someone with a pure mind, body, and ideals. She was what some people call a selfless hero. She helped people by using Truth laws, she shaped the world around her toward a better future, and her strength was at the peak of her era. Those who could face her could be counted by the fingers of your two hands."
Mirrory smiled. "Any evil organization that was targeted by her disbanded and sought forgiveness… well, unless they were stupidly arrogant. However, those who were didn't last, and all fell at her hands. Her tales are endless, and her achievements are unending. She was praised by the common people and feared by the evildoers."
Mirrory looked at Angel, and her smile became a smirk. "But you are not like her. Not even close."
Angel blinked as Mirrory spoke. "You are very selfish, very self-centered. A woman who wants to get stronger in a pure and straightforward way for her lover. If it is something in Yasenia's way, you don't mind annihilating it while using your strength, and other than formations, the world around her matters little to you."
Angel coughed and scratched her cheek. "I-Is that bad?"
Mirrory shook her head. "Not at all. However, can you understand why the Heavens dislike Saint Inheritors? You are not Fu Jing Jing. You will never be her."
Angel was about to get sad when Mirrory smiled. "Child, you are Angel Dravory. While self-centered, your heart is pure and untainted. While you have a powerful desire to get stronger, it is not for evil but to protect those you love. While you do not care about the world around you, it is in both good and bad that you don't interfere, which makes you better than most."
Angel saw Mirrory smiling at her. "So, be proud of who you are and true to yourself. Keep walking forward, believing in what you believe, and if there are times when you need to hesitate on how to advance when you feel lost, just look around you. As long as you remain yourself, you are far more worthy than anyone to inherit and change this power, making it yours."
Angel clenched her little fists and nodded.
Mirrory patted her head and floated upward toward the white ceiling. But how could there be a ceiling in Angel's soul world?
The reason for the existence of this "ceiling" was a tremendously big star made of pure energy, left behind by Fu Jing Jing before passing away and being contained by Mirrory.
If one were to zoom out, this "star" could dwarf anything and everything. The scale was large enough that Angel couldn't even see the curvature, even if she used all her senses.
Mirrory touched the star and extracted around a fistful of it. "This should be enough for someone at your level of strength."
Angel's lips twitched. 'H-How strong do I need to be to absorb all of that?'