Yasenia looked at Tengliu's figure being blasted away by the [Moon Core Shattering Strike], her eyes flickering between golden and red. 'It has been many years since I got to know her.'
Because Yasenia never really put barriers with Tengliu, their relationship had improved over the years, even when it started one of the worst ways it could start.
'And that is a conflict in me.'
A dragon, Yasenia, held grudges for very long. For example, even after over 40 years, her hatred and disdain toward the Tang and Long families back in the Sky Continent was still fresh.
'And yet, Tengliu has managed to prove herself to be someone that could be forgiven.'
Yasenia saw Tengliu blast away the dust cloud, revealing that she had not received excessive damage. She was relatively intact. Without a millisecond pause, the harpy's body erupted with energy, sending a white pillar skywards as her aura became ethereal.
'But…' Yasenia closed her eyes as energy circulated inside of her. In her mind, the scene in that room in the auction repeated. Tengliu's face at that time, Tengliu's desire, Tengliu's overreach, Tengliu's mistake back in her sect. 'I need to dig out this thorn in my heart.'
The dragoness's energy flowed through her meridians in complex ways, and [Internal Celestial Cosmos Combustion] surged, enveloping her entire body.
'Remember the feelings from that day.'
Her body's energy felt endless as each fiber of her body mixed [Celestial Dragon Body] and [Internal Celestial Cosmos Combustion] into her existence.
'The shame of being so utterly helpless.'
Yasenia's eyes slowly opened, revealing completely red irises.
'Remember the humiliation deep within you. Bring everything out.'
BOOOM!
Her aura burst outward like a hurricane of violence. Even Tengliu, who was about to charge, stopped while looking skyward with a severe expression.
'Remember how Cecile felt at that time and how you needed to act to buy Tengliu's sympathy.'
The Celestial Energy Star in her Dantian spun quickly, spreading her power throughout her body while her constitution regulated everything to perfection.
Her throat swelled, and right after, a terrifying dragon roar exploded outward. "ROAAR!"
The shockwave of her rage-filled scream enveloped everything with pressure strong enough to make those spectating feel their bodies being constricted.
Tengliu's lips arched faintly. 'Finally, there is that repressed rage.' Then, she took a deep breath. 'Okay, Little Yasenia, throw everything at me.'
Tengliu was confused when she felt like taking a step sideways. However, the hundreds of years of battles allowed her to listen to her subconscious, following the instructions that she was still processing.
Then, the woman that was in the sky roaring disappeared and reappeared a second later right in front of her. Tengliu's eyes widened. 'What? How is she so fast?'
BOOM!
The shock wave created by Yasenia's giant sword cleaving the ground she was standing on a second ago made Tengliu's heart tremble. 'If that hit me, I would've been in deep trouble- HM!?'
The dragon woman's appearance was different. Instead of a human woman with a long dragon tail, Yasenia had dragonified. Her cheeks, neck, shoulders, arms, and cleavage area were covered with draconic scales. Her hands had become dragon claws while a pair of large wings burst from her back.
Tengliu saw Yasenia's left wing flap, and the dragon woman reduced the distance between them, her punch swiftly advancing toward her stomach. 'This speed is ridiculous!'
Tengliu was able to place her hand in front of the punch after using all her skill and strength. Yet, the second the dragon's punch landed, her talons left the ground and her body bent like a bow. "GAH!"
BOOM!
The harpy's body shot diagonally skyward, creating several rings of pure condensed air due to her flying speed.
The transformed dragon woman whose mind had sunk deeply into that repressed rage crouched lightly and pushed upward. Fourteen stars appeared around her together with a spiral of pure energy manifesting right before her.
[Celestial Charge] and [Pegasus Gallop] were deployed.
This time, even the maids had trouble following Yasenia's burst of acceleration, as some of them even lost her figure for a fraction of a second. That fraction of a second was enough for Yasenia to disappear and reappear several kilometers into the air, right at Tengliu's side.
Spinning while being there, Yasenia's sword created an arch that would collide with the flying Tengliu. Cecile's face hardened. 'If that lands, Tengliu will be bisected.'
The combination of the momentum both the blade and Tengliu carried would be too much even for a high-level Epoch Core's body to resist.
Cecile doubted that even peak-level Heaven-Ranked armor could block this blow.
Tengliu felt real danger. She felt a threat to her life. This stunned her.
From the very beginning, Tengliu understood that Yasenia was incredibly powerful for her level. She was utterly outside the norm. Therefore, she always taught herself to overestimate her strength.
During the first several tens of minutes, Yasenia failed to land a single blow on her because Tengliu was incredibly cautious. She always was planning while taking into account Yasenia's ability to counterattack.
Yet, now, even while not having changed her mentality, the dragon woman was literally surpassing her overestimation.
The dragoness was proving that even "overestimating" her strength was "underestimating" her. 'This is insane.'
Using every single bit of strength in her body, Tengliu managed to spread her right wing. The wind blowing on it almost ripped the skin from her torso, showing how fast Tengliu was sent flying.
Still, that move saved Tengliu from being bisected.
Thanks to the drag created on the air, Tengliu's body hurled left and dodged the sword that was slicing her flight path.
The Harpy Matriarch's forehead perspired when Yasenia's sword created a gigantic sword light beam that divided several clouds in the distance. 'Heavens, what a monster.'
"ROAAR!"
Yasenia's throat boomed with another explosive roar, yet, this time, a blue wave also spread from her.
Tengliu was aware of most of Yasenia's skills, and that blue wave made her face become pale. 'Celestial Dragon Roar?!'
Without a single moment of hesitation, Tengliu used a life-saving treasure, creating a soul barrier. Right as the barrier formed, Celestial Dragon Roar slammed the barrier, creating a brain-piercing sound that made the Matriarch's vision fuzzy. 'Oh Heavens, no wonder this attack is so devastating on battlefields. A Body Cultivator's soul is not trained to deal with that level of assaulting power.'
The harpy looked at the dragoness that was preparing to charge at her again, and her mind spun. 'I need to use everything, or I will die.'
"[Fate Storm Harpy]!"
Her body appeared to blend with the world around her, changing to a more illusory form. The harpy had understood a lot related to Fate thanks to Tatyana, and this skill was a result of that.
Regardless of what anyone said, Tengliu was the most talented harpy this continent had ever created. Her comprehension levels and ability to absorb knowledge were unmatched.
With this skill, Tengliu was able to see 0.01 seconds into the future with absolute certainty. Many would scoff at this. What can that kind of "future" vision do?
Yet, when you realize that they can do literally hundreds of attacks in a second, this kind of prediction ability is incredibly powerful. Just this ability would allow Tengliu to fight peak-level Epoch Cores by herself and have a high chance of winning.
Tengliu's vision was divided into two parts: her future vision and her actual vision. In the future vision, she saw the sky lighting up with thousands of lights. Being quite a fan of Yasenia, the harpy understood that the dragoness was using [Empyrean Galaxy Domain] to hurl, quite literally, the sky at her.
'Even if I know it is coming, this is quite a headache.'
"[EMPYREAN GALAXY DOMAIN: SKY COLLAPSE]!"
Tengliu swooped down, landing on the arena, and then, she took a stance and prepared, grinning wildly. "COME AT ME!"
The first of the thousands of stars in the spiral galaxy arrived, and Tengliu covered her fist with energy and punched it.
BANG!
The blow didn't explode the star; instead, it sent it flying back to the sky.
BANG!
Her talon severed the air from its speed, striking a second star.
Then, her pace increased, matching the falling rate of the stars.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Her body blurred and struck all of them one after another, and the stars flew and exploded upward, creating a white fireworks show.
After blocking the stars, the two main threats arrived. A Sun and Moon bigger than most mountains descended, touching each other and reacting like hot oil and water touching.
Tengliu screamed and used all her defensive measures.
BOOOOOOM!!!!!
The entire arena was instantly covered with a storm of Sun and Moon energies. No one could see what happened, even Tatyana was having trouble.
Cecile asked. "Is she dead?"
Tatyana squinted. "Not yet. She isn't in a good shape, though."
The light fizzled and revealed the scorched and frozen place. In the middle of that gargantuan explosion, Tengliu stood, her breathing ragged and her body filled with frost and burns.
She looked at the dragoness in the sky and smiled through her pain and tiredness. "Is this all, Little Yasenia? How is the cute dragoness that called me Aunt Tengliu feeling? Ready to come out?"
Yasenia, majestically floating in the sky, looked down and pointed at Tengliu with her sword. The Harpy Matriarch sighed. "Really, I am never provoking a dragon again in my life."
Instead of using that insane speed that she had shown until now, the dragoness descended at a "regular" quick speed.
Tengliu prepared and saw with her future vision Yasenia landing in front of her and attacking her with the sword. A centisecond later, the real Yasenia followed exactly that motion. Tengliu, while tired, was a Body Cultivator.
If there was something Body Cultivators had, it was stamina and resilience.
So, using moves that were not much different from the beginning of the battle, she parried the giant sword and struck back. Yet, Yasenia blocked it and struck back again, almost hitting Tengliu.
Unlike the first time they clashed, the dragoness was currently boosted by two Celestial Skills and her Domain. While Tengliu had increased her own strength, the tables on who had the most raw strength had flipped.
Therefore, the tactics she used initially didn't work, forcing Tengliu to be on the defensive.
After a few minutes of back and forth, Tengliu was surprised. 'Hm? Her buffing skills are disappearing?'
And, as she predicted, a minute later, [Celestial Dragon Body] and [Internal Celestial Cosmos Ignition] fizzled away.
She smiled and prepared to rush forward, but that smile cracked as her future vision told her what was going to happen.
Outside, the spectators were confused as to why Tengliu didn't strike and instead started jumping backward. Regardless, Yasenia's chant made what was happening quite clear.
"[Absorption Of Celestial Light: Day and Night Cycle]!"
The world around them was then swallowed by Yasenia's aura, making everything fall under her control.