Everyone on the ship looked at the floating corpse of the Star Beast with amazement. The battle between the dragon and the other enormous beast had been intense and brutal. Yet, by the end of it, other than a few scratches here and there, Yasenia remained basically unhurt while the enemy Star Beast had been eviscerated.
Tengliu couldn't help but ask aloud. "Just… How strong have you become?"
While the maid's attacks were scattered around to close its escape, the Star Beast had received, head-on, a combined attack of many mortal cultivators close to the peak of their cultivation levels.
And yet, it could continue advancing while receiving relatively superficial injuries. And yet, when it faced Yasenia alone, it was powerless. Utterly outclassed and outmatched, becoming a corpse in just a few exchanges.
This came as a shock to all of them. They knew that Yasenia was strong in her "Star Beast" form. However, they didn't understand how high her strength truly was until now.
Yasenia half-turned her head to look at Tengliu with one of her eyes and smiled. "Stronger than you, that's for sure~."
Tengliu looked at the cheeky, massive creature with a deadpan. Yasenia laughed and waved her arm, sending an energy wave that absorbed the creature's corpse into her spatial ring. When she transformed, the ring increased in size with her, but instead of fitting around her finger, it was placed on the base of her horn, looking quite stylish.
"Let's move on."
Yasenia flapped her wings, moving forward again. As she approached the location, the density of Star Beasts roaming around increased several times over. However, unlike that rogue Star Beast, no others deviated from their paths to attack Yasenia.
When they reached the outer Asteroid Belt, Yasenia and the others looked around with interest. After traveling through the void of space, seeing the many asteroids was a refreshing experience.
"Oh? Look, there are a few Star Beasts resting on that one Asteroid."
Looking over, Cecile blinked and asked. "Isn't that Asteroid in a path to hit that one?"
Evelyn asked with a laugh. "Do you think that group of Star Beasts will wake up before that happens?"
The answer was evident as the Star Beasts continued napping until both asteroids hit each other, creating an explosion of rubble that sent those Star Beasts flying.
Sierra squinted and asked, baffled. "Say, why do I feel that they have not even woken up after that?"
One of the Star Beasts struck into an asteroid and remained there, immobile. It was clearly not hurt, so there was only one answer, which was quite humorous. Evelyn laughed. "They really don't care, eh? So what if their house collides with an asteroid? If they are going to nap, not even a star exploding will wake them up!"
Yasenia chuckled. "Asteroids are softer than you think. Well, most of them. Some are made of very hard materials. However, usually, they are just big chunks created by rubble stacking on top of each other by gravity. Look."
Yasenia slightly shifted her trajectory, aiming toward a 10-kilometer-wide asteroid. Without a moment of doubt, she struck it head-on, blasting it into pieces. Yasenia exclaimed. "Ouch!"
The dragoness rubbed her head while looking sideways. A small core of a very hard metal entered her sight, and she blinked. "It's a low-level Transcendent Level meteorite! Mine!" Yasenia glomped it into her spatial ring without a moment of hesitation, leaving everyone on the ship speechless.
Ayanduin's lips twitched. "Your luck is quite something, eh?"
Gu Chen looked around and hummed. "Yasenia, can we take the surrounding Asteroids into our spatial rings as we pass by? That way, you just need to shift around as we go in turns, taking asteroids. We might find something interesting inside them."
Yasenia laughed. "Sure. I already took one, but since I am the one carrying all of you, I will take the next one as well!"
Ayanduin rolled his eyes. "Greedy dragon."
Yasenia smirked. "I'll take two because someone doesn't know when not to speak~."
Everyone glanced at Ayanduin, making the usually mighty and powerful Sixth Realm cultivator feel helpless. "Sure, sure. Go ahead."
So, Yasenia passed by two that looked quite fancy and took them into her spatial ring. Her ring's automatic function quickly disassembled it, revealing that they actually had nothing inside. "Tsk."
Hearing Yasenia click her tongue, the others could guess that she didn't have the same luck two more times. It also confirmed that Yasenia had actually been quite lucky with her findings.
And so, as the giant dragon crossed the long Asteroid Belt, some Asteroids disappeared in her path. Alaia constantly guided Yasenia through the place so she didn't approach an asteroid with a Star Beast.
The Level of Star Beasts in this first Asteroid Belt was not too high as well, making the journey relatively quick and troubleless. Tatyana looked at Kali and commented. "Do you think that the Natural Treasure will be beyond the second Asteroid Belt, Kali? This first one had an average low- and mid-level Fifth Realm Star Beasts. So, the second one must have high and perhaps peak-level ones."
Kali frowned, focusing on her meditation and trying to grasp the distance. However, it was just too big to guess. "I can't tell, Tatyana. The distances are so ridiculously high that I can't tell. I would probably need to reach the Sixth Realm before I start thinking of accurately pinpointing the Natural Treasure's location."
Yasenia commented. "Don't worry, we are not in danger yet. I can feel the surroundings quite clearly. Just guide us, and I'll instantly tell you if I feel in danger."
Kali nodded and continued to feel the shard.
They moved forward, escaping the Asteroid Belt and entering the middle area, which was filled with planets of different sizes and colors. It was like a much more sparse "Planet Belt."
Yasenia looked at them with interest and even flew slightly closer to one of them, looking at it from a distance.
Angel asked. "Why are there so many planets in this place? Or, well, so many celestial bodies."
Tatyana guessed. "This must be the graveyard of an ancient civilization or power. Usually, when cultivators become stronger, and they don't have a large planet to live within, they just use their powers to gather many planets in one place and spread their influence. A Heaven can absorb other worlds into their control if they are strong enough."
Yasenia hummed. "So, do you think that these are the remains of what once was a successful civilization?"
Tatyana looked toward one of the Worlds and pondered. "Yasenia, while we said no stops, do you want to approach one of them and see if we can see any remains? At first, I just thought that this was a normal Nebula. However, there might be a deeper story to it. A dead star, an unnatural planet, an asteroid formation, large amounts of Star Beasts… Besides Kali's Natural Treasure, there might be treasures worth taking risk over."
Yasenia frowned, not feeling convinced. The Asteroid thing was okay because she could take them without stopping. However, approaching a World was just too risky. If it was a Star Beast nest, they'd be chased by thousands of Star Beasts and be completely unable to retrieve Kali's Natural Treasure.
After thinking for a while, she commented. "Let's take Kali's Natural Treasure first. Then, if we don't fall into trouble, we can explore this area. However, I am not much in favor of it."
Evelyn's eyebrow raised. "That's new. I mean, if Tatyana is interested, it is clear that this place is rare."
Yasenia spoke softly. "I am eager to look out for things, but I don't want my curiosity and greed to affect my judgment in a life-and-death situation. We first do what we came to do, and then we can explore the surrounding area as we please, knowing that we can escape whenever we want without leaving anything behind."
Tayana smiled. "Fair enough. I was too hasty after seeing something like this. You are right."
Yasenia looked at Tatyana and spoke. "Tatyana, you are not in your main body. Don't let the feeling of regained strength cloud your judgment."
Tatyana blinked twice and paused, raising her eyebrow. "Oh?"
Mirrory would, of course, not miss an opportunity to tease Tatyana, so she manifested her body and smirked. "You got told off by your muuuuuch younger daughter. How does it feel?"
Tatyana looked at Mirrory and grinned. "Great. It shows that I've raised someone with a head on her shoulders. Can you say the same?"
Mirrory snorted. "Angel is very clever."
Tatyana's grin widened. "Oho~? Have you adopted the little girl? It seems that the indifferent and ancient mirror can actually feel attachment~."
Angel laughed at the side. "Your teasing attempt has completely backfired~."
Mirrory rolled her eyes and returned to Angel's soul. 'Little girl, you need to be on my side next time.'
Angel laughed. 'Okay, okay, I will! Well… Unless it is against Yasenia!'
'Tsk.'
The dragoness was about to cross the relatively free "Planet Belt" when Kali opened her eyes and commented. "It is around this area. We don't need to enter the second Asteroid Belt!"
Yasenia sighed in relief. "That's good. That place must be infested with strong Star Beasts."
Kali commented. "Love, can I stand on your head to guide you better?"
Yasenia nodded. "Sure. If a Star Beast approaches, remember to return to the ship, okay?"
"Noted~." Kali jumped on Yasenia's back and then rushed forward, reaching Yasenia's head in a few moments. Then, Kali stood on Yasenia's nose tip and pointed left. "Go in that direction, love."
The dragoness tilted her wings, changing her direction.
After a few hours, Kali squinted and pointed at a certain world that was bigger than the rest. "That one, Yasenia. The Natural Treasure's signal is coming from that world."
Yasenia frowned and followed after the planet, reaching a relatively close distance. "Kali, I feel quite a lot of energy signals in that area. There must be… people? But that's impossible."
Tatyana and Valeria looked toward the planet with interest. Valeria commented. "The life signals are very similar to Star Beasts, but there are other things in that place… The energy doesn't come from living beings, though."
Tatyana commented. "I think they are formations. There should be some interesting ruins in that place. I am honestly quite surprised that you could feel your Natural Treasure, Kali. That thing must be quite powerful."
Valeria nodded. "It is not simple, that's for sure."
Yasenia smiled. "Well, it was in the same Secret Realm where Mirrory and my Primordial Energy Core were. It being a simple thing was out of the question since the very beginning."
Tatyana spoke. "Kali, come back. Yasenia, advance slowly and keep us always above the planet. We need to see if the ones living there will react with hostility."
"Understood."
Yasenia dove down, approaching the planet; however, she stayed far enough for the world's gravity not to pull her in without control.