Heaven, Earth, Me

Chapter 1185 - 1185. Four and Five Clawed Trials. A Talk About Demons.

Yasenia looked at the challenge in front of her while remaining quite relaxed. There were three giant eastern dragons in front of her, all reaching over five hundred meters long. The challenge was getting past them and grabbing the treasure on the other side. That treasure was the reward of the trial as well.

Soluna noticed that the auras of these dragons were extraordinary. Yasenia, however, walked forward without a change of expression. Her pace was similar to someone taking a stroll.

The three dragons noticed Yasenia, and their faces turned ferocious. "ROARR!"

Yasenia's face cooled down, and she glared at them. "You dare roar at me? Bow down. [Cosmos Dragon Imperial Suppression]."

BOOM!

Her aura exploded outward as an all-encompassing wave of pure presence. Once the three dragons noticed, their faces changed from ferocious to ones of fear, and before they could even control their bodies, they came crashing down from the sky.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Yasenia continued walking forward and didn't even give them another glance, reaching the treasure after a few jumps. "Hm, a Level 1 Quasi-Transcendence Ranked Sword. Not bad."

The sword was silver with red edges and gorgeous flames surrounding the hilt. Once Yasenia grabbed it, the flames became as obedient as a kitten. Yasenia was about to give a few swings to try it. However, before she could do so, Draheart appeared and smacked the sword away. After giving Yasenia an annoyed buzz, she returned to Yasenia's Dantian.

Yasenia didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "That silly sword. I was just trying it out to see how much I could sell it for." Shaking her head, she waved her hand to attract the sword in the distance and then stored it in her ring.

Once she was done, she appeared outside of the door.

"Oh? You are out already?"

Yasenia blinked and glanced upward at the handsome demon. "You are still here?"

Velmora laughed. "You are my objective. Of course, I am here."

The dragoness tilted her head, confused. "Don't you want to gather treasures?"

Velmora felt a drop of sweat drip from his temple. "Do you think I am as greedy as you dragons?"

"You are for females." Yasenia laughed.

Velmora snorted righteously. "That's different! Finding gorgeous breeders and then having children with them is a joy for both parties!"

Yasenia shook her head and sighed. "Sure, sure. It's especially joyful when a woman gets stolen from another family."

Velmora blinked, confused. "What's wrong with that? If I am stronger, then naturally I will be able to give the breeder more happiness. Moreover, the children will be stronger! It's a win-win situation, no?"

Yasenia blinked twice. "Right. Common sense is different between you and me... Speaking of which, have you lost any of your breeders?"

Velmora rolled his eyes. "Do you think I am invincible? Of course, I've lost a few." He snorted, annoyed. "I quite liked them as well. Tsk, I will take revenge when I return now that I've reached the Demon Monarch Realm!"

Yasenia and Velmora continued walking toward the five-clawed area, and in the meantime, Yasenia talked with him to kill time. "What about those girls? Are they happy with that demon? Have they become pregnant?"

Confused, Velmora asked. "Why are you asking me so many questions about my private life?"

"I am curious." Yasenia smiled faintly. "I have never talked with a Demon this long because they all would've tried to rape me by now. You are holding back quite nicely."

Velmora grumbled. "Indeed. You don't understand just how attractive you are, Yasenia. If you gave me a nod, I would pin you against the wall right at this instant and—!"

"Don't be graphic." Yasenia interrupted and rolled her eyes at him.

Velmora sighed. "I won't, but you should stop rolling your beautiful eyes. When you roll your eyes, you are just blatantly tempting me!"

Yasenia chuckled and looked ahead. "Sure, I won't. Still, you have not answered yet."

"Do you really want me to talk about the breeders I've lost?"

Yasenia smirked and gave him a side glance. "What? Does it hurt your pride a lot? I thought that being with a stronger Demon meant that they had a better home and life, no? Moreover, stronger babies!"

Being retorted with his exact words almost made Velmora spit out a mouthful of blood. He sighed and commented grudgingly. "Actually, they are not doing much better. That guy stole them because I offended him. So, my poor breeders are probably being kept haphazardly. I just hope that he doesn't cripple them or give them a strong trauma."

Yasenia paused in front of a forked way and pondered. "Which one do we go through? Do you know the way to the five-clawed area?"

Velmora paused and looked at the two paths in front of them. "I am clueless, to be honest. I was just following you."

The dragoness snorted. "How about using your powerful Sixth Realm Spiritual Sense, mister Demon Monarch?"

"Too difficult... Also." Velmora looked at Yasenia pointedly. "Why should I help someone who refuses to become my breeder?"

Yasenia blinked twice. "Well, you strangely have a point there. Soluna, any ideas?"

"Nooo~." Soluna answered cutely, making Yasenia chuckle. She then gave her a kiss on the cheek and commented. "Okay. Let's go right, then."

The three of them continued advancing through that passage for a few minutes, eventually arriving at another location with many rooms. "Hm... there are fewer doors here. Still, it seems that going right was the correct way. There are a few five-clawed challenges here."

Velmora nodded and smirked. "You are quite lucky."

"Lucky? Me?" Yasenia laughed. "Well, I am as unlucky as I am lucky."

Velmora spoke amusedly. "You are showing me quite a few more emotions than at first. Are you warming up to me?"

Yasenia sighed and glanced up at him. "If I could kill you with one strike without making a commotion, I would. I hope that answers your question, Demon Monarch."

Velmora shrugged. "It doesn't matter. My most loyal breeder was once a half-spirit of nature that wanted nothing more than to kill. However, now she has given birth to two children and is asking me for the third."

Yasenia frowned. "Mental manipulation?"

Velmora showed a disgusted face. "Do you think that a mentally broken woman can give birth to healthy children? Only those that are used for low-level demons are treated like such. I used my charm and personality to make her submit!"

Yasenia sighed. "I had guessed, but you Demons do have breeding grounds."

Velmora shrugged. "Otherwise, how could those low-class demons reproduce? Powerful leaders are important. However, it doesn't make sense to create an empire without followers. Imagine an Empire made out of one person. Moreover, sometimes, powerful Demons grow from them when part of their thin bloodline awakens."

Yasenia understood the logic, even if she wasn't in favor of that kind of ruling. She muttered. "I wonder how many Demon Empires have been overthrown because one of the lowly demons wants to take revenge for his or her mother..."

Velmora heard her mutter and laughed. "Many! There are times when the ruler who rose from those conditions prohibited the breeding grounds as well. They are far from the norm, though. Moreover, while they would make those changes in their empires, they are less than a millionth of the population. What can they influence? If they overstep, there is always a stronger Demon who will squash those rebels. Of course, as long as they don't cross certain lines, higher-level demons close one eye to their antics."

Yasenia hummed. "That's quite interesting... Anyway, time to try the five-clawed doors."

"Are you really going in, Yasenia?"

Yasenia paused and glanced at him. "Why?"

Looking at the imposing five claws, he sighed. "You are just a mortal. I've seen some Transcendence Ranked cultivators fail on these doors. You might die inside."

The dragoness looked at Velmora with a curious gaze. "Doesn't that go along with your wishes? You want me dead, no?"

Velmora crossed his arms and leaned down. Yasenia didn't move back even when their faces were a few centimeters apart. "Yasenia, I like you, and I want you to be my breeder. Didn't I say that? How could I be happy if you die inside?"

He showed a conflicting expression and then patted Yasenia's head. "Either way, I know you won't listen because you are in your rebellious phase. So, be careful, okay? In the future, both of us must have a lot of Demon Dragon babies!"

Yasenia looked at him strangely and shook her head. "Your courting manners are so strange..." Then, she opened the doors and crossed to the other side.

Once there, Soluna asked her after checking that there were no dangers around them. "Do you like him, Yasenia?"

The dragoness shook her head calmly, not flustered. "I don't. Why do you ask, love?"

Soluna tilted her head. "Why did you let him pat your head, then?"

Yasenia chuckled. "He had no evil intentions. If I reacted too rashly there, he might give birth to other ideas. Showing a bit of vulnerability will tell him I am getting accustomed to him. In turn, this will push him to think that his courtship is affecting me. I am keeping him close enough for him to think that I don't hate him completely and far enough that he won't get the wrong hint and try to rape me."

The Celestial Spirit was somewhat speechless. "So many little tricks in those few movements..."

"Welcome to the challenge. Leave the room to complete it."

After hearing the man's voice, Yasenia looked around. This time, she was in a circular room. The room was not too large, and the walls had four large holes lined up one after another. She stepped forward, and when she reached the center of the room, the four holes started pouring out scalding lava. Yasenia quickly jumped upward and tried to fly, but she noticed that she couldn't. "Hm?"

As she was falling, two massive dragon wings sprouted from her back. Then, before touching the rising lava, she flapped and floated upward. As she did so, she looked around for clues.

Soluna pointed at the middle of the concave ceiling. "There!"

Yasenia looked up and squinted. "That's... a small fissure." She sighed and muttered. "I guess I need to break through there before the lava catches up to me?"

Draheart appeared in her hand in the shape of a giant two-handed hammer. The head of the hammer was larger than her torso. Then, she flapped upward and made a full swing.

"BREAK!"

BOOOM!

Cracks spread around the entire structure like spiderwebs, and soon, chunks of ceiling began falling. Yasenia snorted and then began swinging the hammer-form Draheart several times per second.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

After four seconds of striking it, the ceiling exploded upward in a geyser of rocks. Yasenia quickly flew through the hole and reached another room. The room was full of debris, and below her, the lava kept climbing up rapidly.

"Congratulations! Choose one of the treasures in the room."

Yasenia blinked and looked around. She noticed that there were many treasures, some strewn around from her strikes. She also noticed that the further away from the center, the less valuable they were. "Wait..." Yasenia's face turned black. "Stupid challenge. Can't you tell me that there is a valuable item in the middle? I would've tried different methods to drill through the thick ceiling!"

She quickly sniffed around, and her face twitched when she reached the most valuable item. "Destroyed... Ugh."

Soluna laughed at the misfortune. "The ceiling was probably meant to be dug out, not blown apart! Hahahah."

Yasenia pinched her cheek softly. "You dare laugh at me~? See how I punish you later!"

Soluna giggled and hugged Yasenia, acting cute to be forgiven. Her adorableness melted the Dragon's heart, and she sighed softly. After shaking her head, she took one of the non-destroyed items, a Quasi-Transcendence Ranked red dress, and then left the challenge.

Outside, she saw an interesting scene. Velmora was facing three other cultivators, and both sides were stuck in a stalemate.