Chapter 1263. Start of the [Star Piercing Mountain Deep Hunt].

Yasenia stepped out of her training area with a faint smile on her face. ‘While not many of them, at least I can use a few skills now.' She thought to herself. ‘I can now use the first four layers of the [Constellation Steps], [Shattering The Heavens], [Heavenly Firmament Sanctuary], my [Grand Cosmos Martial Art], and my innate skills.’

As she checked, she was surprised by one thing. ‘Still, to think that the [Constellation Steps] now have visual manifestations and affect everything at a much deeper level…’ Previously, each [Sky] in the movement technique would give her a buff and be done with it. Now, things were different.

When Yasenia used, for example, [Pegasus Gallop], the constellation would manifest and influence the area around it. This allowed Yasenia to be able to constantly use the skill within that area as many times as she wanted. Naturally, it changed from one to another, but that trait remained on each of them in one form or another.

'Other than those, I have created a simple skill that will help me until I understand things more profoundly. It's a very simple skill I named [Celestial Strike].' She was very satisfied with this one skill, as it represented the foundation that would help her develop her future skills.

[Celestial Strike] manifested in a mixed form that used all three of her paths: Spirit, Body, and Soul. Honestly, while Yasenia thought of it as simple, anyone on the receiving end of this attack would face a combination of powers that was very hard to defend against.

While thinking of her things, Yasenia arrived at the edge of the location where the hunt would occur. She looked around and quickly spotted Star Forge. So, without thinking much, she stepped forward and appeared by her side. “Hey, Star Forge.”

Star Forge glanced at Yasenia and nodded faintly. “I thought you wouldn’t come and use this time to practice.”

“Well, I want to do that, but I am curious.” Her gaze landed on Feixue, and she smiled a bit. “I also want to see how the children are doing.”

Star Forge nodded and laughed under her breath. “Still, you shouldn’t have appeared here.”

“Huh? Why no—”

“Yasenia Dravory!”

A woman’s shout interrupted her words, making Star Forge’s eyes dance in amusement as Yasenia’s eyebrow twitched. Sighing and looking over, she saw Tai Qingzhe standing in front of her. The woman was wearing a purple cultivation dress, with an elegant sword hanging at her waist. The light blue imagery of flowers and dancing birds gave her beauty a touch of unrealness.

“Tai Qingzhe, I thought we decided not to bother each other. I am still annoyed that you have decided to pick a fight with me for no reason at all, but still, let’s each go our own ways.”

“Ha!” Tai Qingzhe snorted. “I don’t know what you are thinking or planning, but I know that you don’t have the sect’s interests in your mind! Also, whatever you told the Sect Master and others to make them side with you when I went to complain, it won’t work on me!”

Yasenia sighed again and looked toward the disciples. “Star Forge, how will you transport the disciples into the mountain range safely? Also, are the areas wild and uncontrolled as you promise them?”

Tai Qingzhe looked at Yasenia with a baffled expression. “You, you, you… You dare ignore me!?”

Yasenia used the tactic, “If I don’t see her, she might disappear.” Knowing Yasenia’s intentions, Star Forge decided to participate and answered her. “Of course they are not completely uncontrolled. While we don’t protect the disciples from death, we can’t let a rogue beast cause a big tragedy to occur, right?” She moved her eyes toward Qingzhe and smiled. “Don’t you think so, Qingzhe?”

“Ah?” Tai Qingzhe blinked twice, her beautiful face looking somewhat lost. “Are you talking to me?”

Yasenia answered with a smirk. “Is there another Qingzhe in the sect?”

“You! Shut up!” Tai Qingzhe snapped at Yasenia, her face dark.

Yasenia took a step forward and puffed her chest. “Or what? I don’t want to shut up, so if you don’t want to listen, cover your ears.”

Qingzhe usually wouldn’t step down to such bantering, but with anger rising to her head, she stepped forward and smashed her own chest against Yasenia’s. Or at least, she tried. Yasenia being almost a head taller than Qingzhe meant that Qingzhe was neck deep in Yasenia’s softness.

Everyone looked silently at their awkward position. Even Yasenia was speechless as Qingzhe’s face turned red with embarrassment. But, being the stubborn woman that she was, she would not take a step back. Of course, our dragoness didn’t mind and raised her eyebrow seductively. “Comfortable down there? Is it soft? Is it warm? Is it bouncy?”

“W-What are you talking about!? You… You… Breast Monster!” Qingzhe very much regretted saying such a childish insult the second she said it. But who knew that Yasenia’s body had a mental-disrupting capacity that made thoughts spiral out of her control! ‘This dragon will be the end of me!’

Star Forge was not kind and instantly burst into laughter. “Pffhahaha. Did you just call her ‘Breast Monster’? Hahaha, oh, I can’t! Qingzhe, you already are 4,000 years old and still so cute. Hahahaha!”

Yasenia feared that the woman standing between her mountains would explode in embarrassment because of how red her face was.

The Sect Master coughed and stepped forward. “Alright, you women are all over a thousand years old. You shouldn’t be fighting like this. If the disciples see you two, won’t your reputation sink into the abyss?”

Qingzhe and Yasenia looked at each other for a second before they took a step back and stood side by side. Seeing Yasenia actually giving her face and not pursuing the matter surprised Qingzhe a bit, and she sneaked a peek at Yasenia’s profile. ‘Tsk. I have to admit that she is truly pretty… Look at that beautiful profile, her lips, shapely nose, gorgeous jaw, and beautiful ears peeking from her lush, night-like black hair…’

Yasenia felt Qingzhe’s gaze stuck on her face and didn’t know what the woman was thinking about. ‘Is she thinking of ways to peel my skin off? Why is her gaze so intense?’

Seeing that all the elders and disciples had gathered, the Sect Master nodded and stepped forward. His body vanished and reappeared in front of all the disciples. “Welcome to the annual [Star Piercing Mountain Deep Hunt] event! I don’t really like long speeches, so I’ll be blunt and to the point. Since there are new disciples this year, I’ll explain some rules that you have to take into account.”

Yasenia raised her eyebrow. ‘Oh? That’s very much like me. I like it.’

Hearing the rules, Yasenia made a mental summary. ‘So, they’ll be transported randomly to assigned locations. There, they’ll hunt for beasts and treasures, each valued at a certain point value. Everyone in certain age ranges will be gathered in groups, and those will be their competitors. There are a total of 10 groups, each with a certain age range. Feixue is in the second youngest group by two years.’

Until here, it was a rather standard event. What made it interesting is that disciples were allowed to rob other disciples. Of course, killing between disciples was prohibited unless it was in self-defense.

“...Finally, our elders will be on the lookout. If anyone breaks the rules in any way, severe punishment will be administered. The worst-case scenario is expulsion of the sect, crippling of one’s cultivation, or death.”

The dragoness blinked and looked at Star Forge. “Hey, why didn’t you inform me about that? I could’ve prepared some food items to heal the disciples who are in dire straits.”

“Food?” Qingzhe snorted. “Don’t tell me that you are a Spirit Cook? That would be quite embarrassing!”

Yasenia waved her hand and summoned an ice cream, placing it on Qingzhe’s hand. “Eat your ice cream and shut up; the adults are talking.”

The blonde woman looked at the ice cream with a dumbfounded expression while Star Forge explained some things to Yasenia. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to do anything because you are new. It’s not that we don’t trust your capabilities, but…”

Yasenia realized and smiled. “I see. What you don’t trust are my intentions. I guess that Elders need to be in the sect for a few years before they are able to participate in that manner?”

“Yes.” The powerful woman looked at Yasenia with a faint smile. “You took it better than most.” Her tone increased in volume as she mocked. “There are those who can’t accept such things, as if they are an insult to their integrity or something. They should learn from you to know that this is just a procedure to increase security around our disciples.”

Some Transcendence Realm Elders looked away, somewhat embarrassed.

Yasenia hummed and looked sideways. ‘Why is Qingzhe so silent? Shouldn’t she have exploded by now?’ What she saw almost made her splutter. Qingzhe was licking the ice cream with an adorably conflicted expression. Clearly angry about Yasenia’s comment, but too preoccupied with eating the delicious ice cream to react to it.

Our dragoness almost laughed aloud. ‘Isn’t she quite adorable?’ A sigh escaped her mouth, her gaze showing a bit of pity. ‘Why is she so antagonistic towards me?’

Qingzhe managed to catch Yasenia’s gaze, and she frowned. “What? Don’t think that you can bribe me with a delicious…ice cream, you called it? I still look down on you!”

Yasenia stepped closer to her, making Qingzhe tense up. But contrary to her expectations, she saw Yasenia smile as she leaned down a bit. The gorgeous smile, as her black hair cascaded down her shoulders like threads of fine silk, increased her heart rate. “I am glad you like it. I really don’t understand why you don’t like me, but I like you. Come to my house whenever you want to get some food. I’ll cook for you.”

Qingzhe’s heart skipped a beat as she opened and closed her mouth. Then, looking sideways, she snorted. “Since you are so insistent, I’ll go a few times to test you. This ice cream thing might’ve been a fluke.”

Yasenia chuckled, making Qingzhe’s ears turn slightly red.

“Oh. Here they go.” An elder spoke, and Yasenia looked over. A massive formation, complex enough for Yasenia to find it very hard to read, spread on the ground and surrounded all the disciples. Then, a pillar of white light engulfed them as each disciple turned into a shooting star and was thrown to different parts of the basically endless mountain range.

The dragoness muttered. “Wow. That’s a powerful formation.”

“Of course it is.” Qingzhe answered, her tone a bit more natural than before. “That formation was created by our ancestors who set up the sect. It has been preserved since those days and has also been a good tool for our Transcendence Realm Formation masters to increase their skill.”

Star Forge added, her tone calm. “Yasenia, when you are more trusted, you might be able to look at it. You are a formation master as well, right? You’ll benefit from taking a look.”

“Hm…” Yasenia pondered. “If I have time, I’ll do so. I don’t really want to focus on anything other than cultivation for a while.”

“Up to you.” Star Forge shrugged.

Meanwhile, Tai Qingzhe frowned and mumbled. “Formations as well? Even when she is that good at Spirit Cooking? Isn’t that going against the rules?”