One week went by quickly. During this week, Yasenia focused on herself. The last thing she wanted to do was underestimate Tengliu.
Tengliu was a world-class powerhouse here in Distancia. She was strong enough to deter almost everyone from messing with the harpies.
Yasenia wouldn't be surprised if Tengliu had the strength to hit above her weight class.
Therefore, this week, Yasenia entered her cultivation room and practiced as much as possible.
"Young Miss. Tengliu has arrived, and she is in the arena."
Yasenia looked over and asked. "Did you shut down the place?"
"Yes, Young Miss. As you wanted, this will be a private match. No one is allowed inside other than the maids, Madam Cecile, and Lady Tatyana."
The dragoness nodded and walked outside with [Draconic Heart] in her hand. "Draheart, this will probably be one of the hardest fights to date. Prepare yourself."
The sword buzzed with power, ready to battle.
"Soluna, I won't call you out for this fight, okay? So, look over me."
Soluna's sleepy voice reached her. "Okay~. I am going to cheer for you, Yasenia!"
Yasenia's Dantian was so comfortable for Soluna that she would usually be asleep and absorbing energy. For Soluna, that kind of life was nothing but a paradise. After all, spirits relished in absorbing energies and becoming stronger. It might've been an evolution choice due to how long it took. Regardless, Soluna being happier than ever was not a lie.
Speaking of spirits, Embera and the rest were roaming Distancia by themselves. They realized that Soluna was truly happy with Yasenia, so their worries had almost disappeared. Their mission was complete, so once Yasenia left, they would probably ask her to send them back to their world.
When Yasenia arrived at the arena, she saw Tengliu sitting cross-legged and naked on the other side. The dragoness didn't ask why she didn't wear clothes. She was probably more comfortable without them to fight after battling more than 1000 years without them.
This showed that Tengliu was taking it seriously.
Yasenia landed, her giant sword resting on her shoulder. "Tengliu."
Tengliu's eyes opened, revealing a pair of infinitely cold purple orbs. The dragoness couldn't help but have her muscles tense. "Yasenia. I won't go easy."
Yasenia's face became serious as the senior spoke. "This battle is a battle to the death between us. Although there won't be a victim on either side, this doesn't mean that I will hold myself back. You want to punish me? I agree. However, I won't let myself become a punching bag. I will fight back tooth and claw. If you are not strong enough to administer the punishment, then your arrogance will bite you back in the form of my blows."
Tengliu slowly stood up, and her aura exploded outward, filling the entire arena with terrible pressure that pushed Yasenia half a step back. "Yasenia Dravory, I, Tengliu, Matriarch of the Storm Feathered Harpies, agree to your duel request."
Tatyana looked from the sides without an expression. This time, she agreed with Tengliu. Her Little Treasure was stubborn back then, so now, the punishment must be administered by herself.
Not to mention, she had already punished Tengliu herself in secret. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to stay at peace. What she did was show Tengliu ways she could've died when facing her.
Nothing too extreme, but something that was bad enough to cause some damage. What Tatyana didn't expect is that Tengliu would have a breakthrough in her intent because of that. 'Well, Little Treasure, good luck.'
Yasenia took a stance as well, and her auras began accumulating one by one. Yasenia's buffing skills were many: [Starry Sky], [Draconic Moonless Night], [Draconic Waning Moon], [Celestial Cosmos Dress], [Cosmos Dragon Imperial Suppression], [Celestial Field Master], [Cosmos Body Reinforcement], [Heavenly Constellation Steps: Ursa's Grasp], [War intent Level 6], [Monarch Intent Level 6], and [Celestial Intent Level 6].
All these non-ultimate buffs increased Yasenia's strength one notch after another, similarly taking a lot of her regeneration prowess.
Other than these, Yasenia had [Celestial Dragon Body], [Celestial Assimilation], [Empyrean Galaxy Domain], [Day and Night Cycle], [Empyrean Cosmos Dragon Transformation], and [Internal Cosmos Combustion].
Finally, her natural strength, which was Peak-Level Ancient Beast Bloodline, Level 2 Dantian Spiritualization, Low-level Epoch Core, and Level 2 Legendary Core Beast, was enhanced by the [Celestial Cosmos Body Refinement] technique, which increased her bodily strength tremendously.
This was the strength she had accumulated during her stay in Distancia; this was what all her challenges and efforts equaled.
When the passive auras burst from within her, the pressure Tengliu submerged the entire arena was pushed back with a violent shockwave.
BOOM!
The dragoness's face became cold as her buffing skills manifested her dress and several cosmic lights around her. Her seductiveness was overridden by an Empyrean authority, looking as if a goddess from the stars had descended.
Her enchanting dress was like a night sky, glittering with beautiful starlight and covered with golden details. Her long sleeves flew elegantly, separated from the dress but complimenting her empyrean look.
The wide cleavage added a touch of ethereal seductiveness to her appearance, and her long and enchanting tail surrounded her.
The maids around looked at Yasenia with respect, as they knew that this look, this strength, everything was won with sweat, blood, tears, and suffering.
Tengliu took a position as well, not intimidated. "Yasenia, you've really grown."
The dragoness's voice echoed with might. "And yet, I still don't know if it is enough."
Tengliu's aura started growing as she spoke. "You are right to doubt as you are not the only one who has grown. And I will use all my weapons, so you better shield your mind." Then, the harpy matriarch revealed all her Intents: "Give me strength: [Seduction Intent Level 6], [Fate Intent Level 7], [Instinct Intent Level 6], [Wisdom Intent Level 5]."
All of them, one after another, covered Tengliu's body, increasing her presence several times and pushing against Yasenia's aura.
The dragoness kept looking, feeling nothing wrong with herself.
Tatyana appeared in the middle and raised her hand. "The battle will start in 3…"
"2…"
"1…"
"Go!"
"[Storm Rush]."
"[Pegasus Gallop]."
BOOM!
CLANG!
Both women disappeared and reappeared right in the middle. Tengliu's fist, covered in a very thin but highly sturdy peak-level Heaven-Ranked fabric, clashed with [Draconic Heart]'s side, making both attacks deflect.
Yasenia's and Tengliu's eyes crossed while Draheart was blasted sideways. Tengliu's pupils shrunk and instead of taking the opening, she hastily took a step back.
Right as she did so, Yasenia's tail sliced through the place where her neck was a moment ago. Then, with a quick movement, Tengliu punched to her left, and her fist collided with Draheart, which Yasenia had tried to sneak in during Tengliu's back-step.
Still, the Harpy Matriarch's [Instinct Intent] and [Fate Intent] were incredibly strong predictive assets, allowing Tengliu to deploy an extraordinarily efficient and swift defense.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Yasenia's attacks fell like raindrops, filling the place with the clanging sounds of Tengliu's deflections. No one spoke between both of them as their bodies didn't stop for a single second.
Tengliu's eyes flashed with white light, and instead of stepping back, she used a skill to accelerate her body and sneak right into melee range. The dragoness's pupils thinned. Her tail and sword were out of place to defend.
BOOM!
Sounding like a massive bomb exploding, Yasenia received a punch to her stomach, blasting her flying like a shooting star across the arena.
BANG!
Right when Yasenia struck the wall of the arena, Tengliu took three steps forward and palmed the air. "Explode, [Harpy Sky Claw]."
The phantom of a terrifyingly large palm strike manifested, descending where the dragoness had fallen.
"[Celestial Charge]."
The air ripped apart as a blue streak of light rushed upward in a falling arc.
BANG!
The phantom exploded into light particles while the dragoness, surrounded by Celestial Energy, rushed at Tengliu.
The Harpy Matriarch stomped the ground, creating tremors. A pillar of pure energy rushed skyward right in front of her, perfectly timed so that Yasenia would collide with it.
Yasenia's eyes became cold, and her left hand glowed with golden lights while charging and holding her sword with her right hand. "[Nascent Sun Burst]."
A flash of golden light followed her skill activation, illuminating everything and covering the arena with scorching heat.
BOOOOM!
Both attacks were neutralized. However, as if expecting this, Tengliu was right above Yasenia, descending like a stoop predator who had locked onto its prey.
Yasenia turned around mid-air, using the momentum of the spin to ignite her skill. "[Sun Core Shattering Strike]!"
"[Storm Harpy's Descent]!"
Sword and claws clashed again, the repulsive force sending both of them flying in opposite ways. However, not losing a single second, Tengliu and Yasenia rushed at each other again.
The dragoness transformed Draheart into a pair of claw gauntlets and used [Nascent Cosmos Art], her body cultivation martial art skill.
Her steps changed, becoming wilder and much more aggressive. Her punches and kicks began flying one after another, using the tail to cover any gap in her aggression.
Bang!Bang!Bang!Bang!Bang!Bang!Bang!Bang!Bang!Bang!Bang!
Tengliu was assaulted by the attacks again, and each time her palm struck or blocked one of Yasenia's blows, she could feel a sharp tingling. 'Heavy.'
Tengliu thought she would have the advantage in raw strength, but after this terrible barrage, she felt it was not the case. 'She has grown incredibly strong.'
"[Storm Harpy Battle Flight]!"
Powerful gales surrounded her body, and when she stepped forward, her speed multiplied.
BOOM!
Yasenia barely blocked Tengliu's punch a few inches from her face. Then, she quickly moved her tail to block the kick aimed at her neck, followed by a quick step back to avoid the other spinning quickly about to strike her tail again. 'If that second kick lands, she will breach my defenses.'
Knowing that Tengliu's attack was incredibly fast, she stopped using [Nascent Cosmos Art] and deployed [Dance In The Firmament]. From wild and aggressive, her steps became light and illusory.
When Tengliu attacked, the dragoness dodged and redirected everything with grace. The exchange between them was frantic, eventually taking even the air as a battlefield and leaving spectators holding their breath.
However, as time passed, the dragoness began falling into a disadvantage. It was clear that Tengliu had an overall skill and strength advantage. She was more consistent and also had deep knowledge, which allowed her to surprise Yasenia many times.
After almost 40 minutes of fighting, Yasenia had yet to land a solid hit on Tengliu, while she had received several from her.
Yasenia crossed her arms and blocked the ax kick that almost landed on top of her head.
BANG!
She cratered into the ground, and Tengliu punched down from the sky, summoning a terrifying storm of energies. "[Storm Harpy Disaster]!"
Beyond the dust cloud that appeared after Yasenia slammed into the ground, a terrifying aura burst out. "I admit it, I am still not equal to you skill-wise. However, as I said, this was not about skill. It was about beating you up."
"[Celestial Dragon Body],"
"[Empyrean Galaxy Domain]."
BOOOM!
The dragoness's entire body was instantly surrounded by terrifying energies while the entire arena was swallowed, changing the sky to a phantom night sky with a massive Sun and Moon orbiting a Galaxy of stars.
"[Draconic Full Moon]!"
Before the attack collided, a giant silver dome manifested, and the attack was dispersed. The dragoness pointed upward, [Draconic Heart] transforming back to its giant sword form. "Tengliu, prepare yourself. [Pegasus Gallop]."
Tengliu's instincts screamed danger, and she swiftly blocked to her right.
"[Moon Core Shattering Strike]!"
BOOM!
Tengliu was hurled flying, smashing against the ground.