When Yasenia stepped outside, her presence spread like a flood. Her strength had become several times higher compared to the previous level. It was to the point that every single person above the Unification Realm level in the realm felt Yasenia's aura for a second before she ruled it inside herself.
Alaia, Flora, Leila, Doriel, and the other maids appeared in front of Yasenia and kneeled. "Congratulations, Young Miss!"
The dragoness nodded and asked. "How much time has passed?"
Alaia lifted her head and answered. "Seven months, two weeks, and three days."
The dragoness hummed. "I see." She couldn't help but sigh. "It was still longer than I expected."
Flora laughed. "If any other cultivator heard Young Miss, they would probably cough blood from anger."
Yasenia chuckled. "Well, I am pushing 70 already. I thought that by this age, I could at least be in the solid energy realm."
Doriel spoke. "If Young Miss had not been trapped in that trial for 20 years, then it would've been possible."
The dragoness nodded. "However, it happened, and making excuses is not something I want to do," Yasenia muttered. "Honestly, advancing with a perfect foundation is what's making me advance so slowly."
Clara spoke seriously. "You can't be hasty, Young Miss. Young Miss's tribulation to the Transcendence Realm will need every single treasure, ability, strength, and talent that you can squeeze out. I would even recommend delaying the breakthrough for ten years to consolidate after you reach your peak."
The other maids nodded, agreeing with Clara. Yasenia crossed her arms under her chest and got thoughtful. After swinging her tail around for a bit, she said. "I won't agree because I don't know what might've happened by then. Still, know that I'll keep it in mind." Then, she looked at her maids and smiled. "I want to test my strength before doing anything else. Do any of you want to spar?"
The animal ears and tails of the beast human maids perked up, while the human ones had starry eyes. A big collective "Yes!" was heard, loud and clear.
Yasenia blinked a few times, surprised. "So eager?"
Alaia laughed. "Young Miss was too weak for us to spar somewhat seriously. While Young Miss still has a long way to go to face us properly, Young Miss has gained enough strength to threaten us slightly. Of course, this is in the sense that Young Miss's weapons and skills now have the potential of harming us."
Yasenia raised an eyebrow. "Really? I always thought that to fight even the weakest of you, who is currently at…" Yasenia looked around and blinked. "Level 8 of the Dantian Spiritualization Realm, I would need to reach at least Level 6."
Selena smiled. "Young Miss, that would be true if you didn't unlock Beast and Body cultivation. With your current Level 4 Legendary Beast Status, low-level Epoch Core, and Level 4 Dantian Spiritualization realms, Young Miss has enough strength to face us."
Yasenia acknowledged and asked. "Speaking of Body Cultivation, I am at the peak as well. Is it better to break through first? I just don't know how long it takes to go from low to middle-level Epoch Core realm."
Clara spoke. "Madam Cecile has managed to break through quickly. The difference between low- and middle-level Epoch Cores is the energy within the Epoch Core, as well as its size and integration with the body. Right now, Young Miss's Epoch Core is somewhat of a… 'Alien' organ to the body, so you are not entirely in sync with it. Epoch Core realm will allow your body to completely assimilate the organ as if you were born with it."
The dragoness hummed. "I see. So I will be able to break through rather quickly. Is there any event that I need to know of? How are the children doing?"
Alaia stood up and gave Yasenia a jade scroll. "Here is everything that happened to the little misses when you were away, Young Miss. There is also general information about the world's political situation and a few extra details about the sect's progress."
The dragoness took the scroll and sank her consciousness into it. Information flowed quickly into her mind as she read everything that happened. She couldn't help but feel a bit emotional as she read about many new events. 'Hm? Luminaria is getting much more intelligent than I expected.'
Luminaria was the name that the girls gave Estrella's jellyfish pet. Estrella didn't call her like that, though. She always referred to her as "Lumi."
The children's birthdays also went well, but there were reports of the children looking toward the mountain during their birthday as if expecting Yasenia to appear.
Yasenia had the urge to go and meet them right at this moment and pamper them, but she continued reading. 'Oh! Flame's shop is doing quite well; even Kaleina is helping from time to time… Hm? Oho~, a few people have been trying to court Kaleina.'
The dragoness sneered. 'As if you have any chance at all. Hm? Flame got upset, and she had a fight with Kaleina. Hm~, Hm~? Oh? Aha~, hehe. I see!'
Yasenia smiled, amused. 'Tsk, tsk. Flame needs to be a bit more direct~.'
Then, the dragoness read the political situation and sect situation quickly, not even spending half the effort on it as she did with the children's information.
Yasenia closed the scroll and took out her consciousness from it. "I see. So the Undead had quite a good harvest."
Alaia nodded. "We've gone to investigate, and they've grown to a few tens of millions after digesting their gains."
The dragoness clicked her tongue in wonder. "Undead spread really fast, don't they?"
A maid that had necromantic powers smiled. "As long as there is Death, Undead will thrive. However, during peaceful times, the Undead had difficulty increasing their numbers."
Yasenia hummed. "Is that why so many people have a really bad impression of them?"
That same maid nodded. "Yes, young miss. It is a deserved fame because many Undead have manipulated several powers during the ages to increase the wars, incite discord, and even influence some religious groups into sacrifice practices. While many Undead are not really like that, the extreme ones are really extreme."
The dragoness blinked. "Quite dangerous neighbors to have. I might've not fully considered the level of threat when speaking with them. I am a bit accustomed to Mom's Undead; it didn't come to mind that natural Undead have such habits. They are not much different from Demons in that regard."
That maid pouted and defended. "Young Miss, while it is the truth that naturally born Undead lean towards evil, at least the general majority doesn't care as much. Demons are all evil."
Yasenia laughed. "All of them? Not even one of the race deserves saving grace?"
Alaia explained. "How can a good tribe thrive in an environment where the weak are brutally dominated by the strong? All good tribes that refused to go with the others were exterminated long ago by the current races. Peaceful Demons are so rare that they are sold in some auctions around the Universe as valuable and rare items."
The dragoness winced. "Ouch. You try to be good, and people take you to sell you because you are so odd. Talk about being miserable; good demons might be the ones that have it the worst."
Yasenia asked. "So, what's your recommendation with the Undead? Does anyone have an idea?"
The maids all got thoughtful. Eventually, a Level 9 maid spoke. Her tone was deep and pleasant. "Young Miss, how about we make them sign a racial heavenly oath?"
Yasenia blinked. "What's that?"
The maid spoke. "Heavenly oaths can affect individuals or groups. Some races in the past, like Divines, were restricted because of the racial Heavenly Oaths."
"The past meaning…?"
After Yasenia's question, the maid answered. "Before the Heavenly Cataclysm."
The dragoness rubbed her chin and commented. "Continue."
The maid nodded. "As long as all of them agree, a Heavenly Oath to restrict an entire race can be placed down. Of course, doing such things heavily influences a person's Karma. How the Karma will change depends on what the future will look like with that Heavenly Oath on."
Yasenia frowned. "Too risky."
Doriel nodded. "While the idea is good, if Young Miss does it, the Karma behind that action can be crushing. More so now that Young Miss is approaching the Transcendence Realm. The best case scenario is Young Miss managing to close all of her lingering Karma ties."
The dragoness asked. "For Example?
Doriel commented. "Searching for individuals like Isla, Jaxon, Madam Angel's sister, and other people with deep ties with Young Miss might be interesting. Completely resolving Young Miss's ties with Distancia would be ideal."
Yasenia crossed her arms. "How do I do that? Cutting my ties with this world?"
Doriel commented. "Resolving all remaining debts of gratitude and cutting off the cycles of revenge is a good start. When Young Miss leaves, you should leave everything set up and be able to forget about Distancia."
The dragoness frowned. "But, some of my children might want to remain here in the future. What about them?"
Doriel smiled. "Family ties are not taken into consideration because they are family. Cutting ties with family is often considered as negative Karma. Of course, the situation depends. Family relations, as long as they are good, they will be there."
Yasenia muttered. "This is quite complicated."
Alaia spoke soothingly. "A step at a time, Young Miss. You don't need to do this. After all, these are recommendations passed down from time immemorial."
The dragoness sighed. "With more reason, I need to do it. Traditions are usually there because people in the past saw a solution to a problem that has completely disappeared thanks to that tradition. If we forget about the tradition, that problem will reappear with time."
Yasenia pondered and turned around. "I'll break through into the middle-level Epoch Core first. Then, I'll come out and have a few sparring sessions with all of you. Fifty battles should be enough to gauge my strength. After that… I'll need to start looking outward and creating something that can find those people related to me… There are so many things to do even when times are peaceful."
The maids saw Yasenia disappear into the cultivation cave again, and one of them asked. "Senior, was it okay to tell Young Miss all of this now? Not even Lady Tatyana has told her, right?"
Alaia spoke. "We can't let Young Miss feel relaxed. Although I feel bad, we need to keep Young Miss's alertness up at all times. The cultivation world is ruthless, and the second you relax, it can devour you even before you know what happened."
Alaia frowned, feeling a bit guilty. "While what we said was a bit exaggerated, it is not a complete lie. These traditions are customary traditions almost throughout the entirety of Heaven and Earth."
Flora sighed. "Young Miss's path is difficult. The Heavens are against her. Only that is enough to make anyone helplessly crumble down. Yet, Young Miss is facing more than that."
Leila spoke. "However, we should also not interfere much. Changing Young Miss's path can lead to an unwanted outcome."
Tatyana spoke to all of them through spiritual sense. "Leila is right, keep it light. What you did was good this time around, but interfering too much will create discord. Keep it in mind."