Heaven, Earth, Me

Chapter 874: Ritual Starts.

Hearing the conversation from the side, Nyxeris, the light-attributed spirit, joined the conversation. "Lady Tatyana, Soluna is a relatively important member of our Spirit World. Her uniqueness and strength can transform her into a strong leader that can push the Spirit Society further and with greater unity." Nyxeris looked at Yasenia and commented. "If Soluna becomes a subordinate to Yasenia, and Soluna becomes the leader of the Spirit World, that means that the entire Spirit World will be under Yasenia's command."

Tatyana looked at Nyxeris and asked. "And what's wrong with that?"

Nyxeris looked at Tatyana confusedly. Tatyana commented. "How old is Yasenia, Nyxeris?"

Nyxeris was silent, but everyone here knew Yasenia's age. Tatyana smiled. "She is that young, and she has strength comparable to that of your 'Future Leader.' That's not all; you've seen how she takes care of things, you've seen her ability to govern, and you've seen her growth firsthand."

Tatyana persisted. "Let's forget about Yasenia for a moment. Let's speak about Soluna."

Nyxeris asked with a frown. "What's wrong with her?"

Tatyana asked. "From what I've heard and discerned, Soluna was born in the fifth realm, right?"

Nyxeris nodded. "Yes."

Tatyana lifted an eyebrow. "Three thousand years later, she is still in the first level of the fifth realm."

All the spirits became silent as they looked at Tatyana. Tatyana asked, leaning on her hand. "Moreover, Soluna herself has said that there are no clear indications that she can start advancing her cultivation level after trying for 3000 years." Tatyana shrugged. "Even if you say that she took three-quarters of that time to understand herself and that she only began cultivating in the last quarter of her life, that's still 750 years of cultivation without results."

Nyxeris defended. "Us, spirits, take much longer to cultivate."

Tatyana didn't deny it. "That's correct. If spirits could cultivate as fast as mortal creatures do, the entire universe would be dominated with spirits. Similar to dragons, your kind is usually limited by your own immeasurable potential and inability to quickly assimilate it. Those who do..." Tatyana looked at Yasenia with a smile. "Become creatures the Heavens don't like that much and try to eliminate with terrifying Heavenly Tribulations."

Nyxeris asked, feeling a bit impatient. "What does all of this have to do with our conversation?"

Tatyana smiled, as if she had been waiting for this question. "Everything. It has to do with everything we've talked about. Why? Because, I ask you, what would happen if Soluna became Yasenia's contracted spirit? If she is successful and becomes tied with Yasenia's energy and, in short, her overall being, what will happen?"

The spirits became thoughtful as they looked between Soluna and Yasenia. Even they were tempted by Yasenia's energy purity. So much so, that after the tribulation, they all had to hold themselves back from going forward and cultivating the residual energy left behind by Yasenia.

Imagining Soluna being able to feed on Yasenia's energy, they could already imagine that the bottleneck Soluna had been suffering because of her special constitution would shatter like fragile glass before a metal hammer.

To be honest, it was not like any of them had thought about it after they were aware of Yasenia's nature. There was a reason why they allowed Soluna to interact freely with Yasenia, and it was Yasenia's uniqueness. The Celestial Energy contained in the dragoness was an invaluable treasure for any being, even beyond the spirits, that was related to those elements.

Moreover, while Celestial Energy seemed to be the energy that resulted from the fusion of Sun, Moon, and Star energies, it was something much more complex, not that Yasenia nor anyone present was aware of that yet.

Tatyana's logic was seamless and powerful, and her words and rhetoric questions were almost undeniable. Once the pros and cons were evaluated, the spirits couldn't deny that becoming Yasenia's contracted spirit had nothing but positives for Soluna.

Did they want their Spirit World to flourish without outside influence and create an only-spirit society? They wanted to. The reason why these six were chosen in the first place as Soluna's "bodyguards" was their unusual acceptance toward the Spirit Society that other spirits didn't have.

Yet, at the end of the day, they couldn't match up in terms of negotiating power nor eloquence when facing the Death Empress.

All their arguments were methodically and meticulously sliced apart as Tatyana placed several counter-arguments that not only benefited them, but appeared as the best way forward.

Tatyana's intention was not to deceive them; as a ruler, she understood that while deception was a strong tactic, it would usually backfire with due time. If she had lied to the long-lived spirits, even if it was not now, they would have gained a lifetime long grudge that would go on for generations in a few hundred thousand years when they realized.

Angering a creature with a practically infinite lifespan was not a good thing since the longer a creature lived, the harder it was for its feelings to be changed and influenced.

Once someone gains the ire of a long-lived creature, that hate can persist for hundreds of millennia and more.

So, Tatyana was trying to play politics and buy favors without hurting Yasenia's opportunity: Soluna becoming her companion.

The conversation continued for a few more hours, with constant back and forth between the six spirits and Tatyana. The rest of the girls listened to the diplomatic masterclass Tatyana was pulling off from the side.

By the end of the conversations, not only were the spirits not against Soluna becoming Yasenia's spirit, but Embera even thought that any other course of action would be a wrong one, as it would damage Soluna's development.

Yasenia couldn't help but admire the way Tatyana took the lead in the conversations. It was similar to her way of doing things but, in the end, very different.

Yasenia was generally aiming for long-term objectives, but it felt like her view was narrow compared to her mother's. While she was planning for her sect's future, looking at it from around one to two thousand years ahead, Tatyana's view stretched much further.

The loss of freedom was penetrating and all-encompassing, making her doubtful about her choice for a second. Yet, the second Yasenia's hands surrounded her core, every one of those thoughts ceased as peace enveloped her.

The energy around the creature holding her core was so cozy and welcoming; she felt as if she was in the cradle of her birth and was about to be born again.

Yasenia brought Soluna's core toward her navel and pressed it against her skin, right above where her Dantian used to be. Her actions were slow, patient, gentle, and caring.

The formation below her emitted several rays of light and arched and fell on them, enveloping them in a multicolored spectacle.

Then, the core started to melt into the dragoness's body as if Yasenia's skin was made of water.

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Author: And so, it begins~.

Tatyana: Hm. Your cliffhanger dao is advancing at a spectacular pace.

Proofreader Ayan: We've been hanging for days! Hmph.

Author: Thanks, hehe.

Author: Anyways, let's start~. I summon you!

Randomplant: It has been a while! Hello~.

Kali: Welcome back.

Randomplant: Thanks. Well, this question is for someone who knows~.

Author: You, readers, really like to throw questions to the air, don't you?

Randomplant: Hehe. Anyways, how many times more difficult is Yasenia's tribulation? The heavens increase the difficulty by X3, so it would be 3+3+3. But the gods increase that by X3 in her first method of cultivation. Does that mean it is 3+3+9? Or what would it be like?

...

Randomplant: Hm?

Tatyana: We don't know.

Randomplant: Huh?

Tatyana: Do you think we are strong enough to understand how a creature that hasn't been born before reacts to a mix of heavenly anger and god inheritance? A dragon at that?

Randomplant: Now that you put it that way...

Tatyana: I mean, we could somewhat guess, but no one knows for certain. For example, I can guess that her next tribulation will have between 60 to 120 Tribulation Soldiers, but that estimate is like saying that she will be attacked by lightning.

Randomplant: Hahaha, that's true, I guess.

Tatyana: So, while I would love to answer that question since that means I can help my little treasure more, we really can't.

Randomplant: Fair. Thank you, Tatyana.

Tatyana: No problem, child.

Author: And that's all for today~. Bye-bye~.

Proofreader Sarah: And I had such a nice equation that was broken because the Author wanted a nice number of Soldiers for Yasenia's latest Tribulation QWQ