When they arrived home, Yasenia walked straight to the cultivation room and sat cross-legged. Once she did, her mind moved into the Star Breaker Realm Bead. She had been fighting her copies for a while and managed to advance, but as explained before, she used the bead to practice more than to truly push herself.
This wasn't because Yasenia was lazy. Our dragoness was constant, but she was just not pushing to the limits like before. If her efforts were compared with normal cultivators, she would fall into the workaholic category even when she was "lazing around."
Regardless, her maximum pace was not what she had been doing, and Yasenia knew it.
As she opened her eyes, her copy with polar opposite coloring smirked at her. "Ho~? I see that you are not here to try new things."
Yasenia's golden slit eyes met the copy's cobalt-colored eyes. She slowly stood up and spoke with a serious expression. "I will push through to my limits. Be prepared."
BOOM!
Her long black hair soared skyward as a pillar of pure pressure and energy pierced the sky. Her dress changed into a long, cosmic gown, and her golden-slit eyes turned a deep, starry blue.
In less than a second, Yasenia's every single strengthening technique had activated, once more welcoming the descent of the Celestial Dragon.
The copy's lips arched, and in the next moment, her own auras exploded violently and soared.
Both sides summoned Draheart and the War Flag in the Shield and Battle Flag formation. After fighting the Abyssal Human, Yasenia realized that this combination was perfect for her.
Remember that while Draheart usually took a giant sword form, that was just because Yasenia had been the most comfortable with her as such. The core of Draheart wasn't being a sword. It was being any type of weapon.
As long as it existed, Draheart could transform into anything except instrumental or talisman-type weapons. A fan, a whip, a sectioned sword, a halberd, a glaive, a shield, a bow… If Yasenia willed it, Draheart would change herself to fit her uses.
Behind Yasenia and the Copy, Dramel and Soluna appeared with solemn expressions. Dramel shifted to her Pipa form, and both Solunas spread their arms as Celestial Energy swirled around them in monstrous amounts.
Both the copy and herself took a step forward, giant, starlit, feathered wings blooming behind them.
"[Pegasus Gallop]."
BOOM!
Two explosive sounds manifested behind them, meeting not in the middle, but closer to the copy's side. The Copy's eyes widened faintly. 'She is faster… quick!?'
Yasenia, her eyes fixed on her prey, used [Fairy Moon Steps] to slip past and complete a sweeping motion with her battle-flag.
The Copy shifted her giant shield, blocking Yasenia's attack. The impact created a massive shockwave, and the copy grunted slightly.
The monstrous strength caused the light-golden copy of the 949th step to slide back. As she slid back, Yasenia opened her mouth wide. "[Celestial Dragon Breath]."
The copy smirked widely. 'This is dangerous. She is completely serious.'
"[Celestial Aegis: Nine Petals]."
Celestial Aegis and Celestial Sunder, these two skills that Yasenia created as basic releases for her newly acquired raw Celestial Energy at the Sixth Realm, had constantly evolved. They weren't comparable to some of her other skills, but in both activation time and energy usage, they were by far the lowest.
The Celestial Aegis spread out in multiple layers like a massive galactic flower. This was the same as layering and multiplying the skill's strength by nine, making it 81 times stronger.
BOOM!!!
Even then, the [Celestial Dragon Breath] was far too destructive. This attack that Yasenia trained and transformed in the Dragon Paradise had one of, if not the highest, destructive levels among all her attacks.
The nine-petaled Celestial Aegis crumbled, and the copy took the blow to her body. The defenses around her prevented heavy damage.
Yasenia, already knowing this copy's limits, anticipated the result. So, by the time the copy recovered, her body had sped up and crossed the distance, appearing right before her while thrusting the Battle Flag.
"[Shattering The Heavens]."
The world before Yasenia crumbled as a spiral of Celestial Energy pressed down onto the copy.
"Ha! Good job."
BOOM!!!
The copy's body was blasted backward, her upper body crushed into a bloody pulp. Yasenia knew the Copy was not dead. Her own durability was not that fragile.
So, she raised her flag to the sky and transformed the world around her.
"[Empyrean Galaxy Domain], [Celestial Intent Domain], [Celestial Convergence: Empyrean Day and Night]."
With an aura straight out of this world, Yasenia took over the whole space as her celestial blue slit eyes looked down at her recovered copy.
"The night descends,
I will break myself.
As the strength transcends,
Henceforth, I will kill the self."
The copy looked at the sky and saw the absolute Celestial Goddess looking down at her as the cosmos around her shifted. "Hahaha! THIS is the dragon I met for the first time. Since you want to fight to the death, COME! [CELESTIAL CONVERGENCE: EMPYREAN DAY AND NIGHT]!"
BOOM!!
Both sides locked eyes with each other, and the copy repeated Yasenia's verses to gain strength. The next second, they rushed at each other with cataclysmic power enveloping their bodies.
From the 951st to the 940th floor, Yasenia only needed the first verse to completely crush the copies.
At the 939th floor, the battle extended a touch longer, and Yasenia had to extend the chant.
"The stars grow pale,
I will greet the dawn.
As the shadows fail,
A former me is gone."
Both the copy and herself exchanged countless blows, slipping past the defenses as they tried to overcome the other side. However, Yasenia's predatory and unblinking slit eyes managed to see through and crush her copy one more time.
At the golden level of the bead, there were actually 50 floors. And the second Yasenia would only come after the 25th floor, or at the 925th floor.
Floor 931…
"The heavens ignite,
I will rise with the sun.
Bathed in newborn light,
Self and sky become one."
Yasenia's battle flag blew the copy away, and with a well-timed and empowered [Sun's Crushing Blow], she managed to overcome the floor and continue onward.
Floor 927…
"The sun crowns the sky,
I will stand above.
Neither earth nor heaven high
Shall bind what I become."
The copy's tail struck Yasenia's shield, pushing her back, but Yasenia used her speed and superior strength and managed to slip a [Draco's Descent] within the battle.
The phantom of the Primordial Constellation Dragon manifested, tearing the sky open, and the copy grinned helplessly.
Floor 925…
Two Yasenias appeared, but they were as weak as the one at the 950th level. So, Yasenia felt no pressure at all and managed to crush them with just the second verse of her chant.
Floor 912…
The two copies pushed Yasenia back, so she had to move on to the next step of her chant. The Sun that had been shining high up in the sky descended, and the dragoness's aura strengthened as Celestial Fire covered the Battle Flag.
"The daylight bleeds,
I will shed my name.
As the dying heavens recede,
I leave behind my flame."
The three Yasenias blurred, their weapons clashing and leaving fire stellas behind in their wake. Spiraling paths of three flaming spears clashed, two of them burning a deep, stellar red, while the third one burned a gorgeous celestial blue light.
One of the copies got entangled with one of Soluna's well-timed attacks, something Soluna managed after defeating one of her copies. Yasenia used this chance to pierce her heart and explode the Celestial Sun Fire.
Floor 901…
Yasenia stood with tattered clothes, bleeding everywhere and breathing roughly. However, her eyes were utterly focused on the two perfect Golden Copies of herself.
The copies were also damaged, and both Solunas were pushing Yasenia's Soluna back slightly. So, this time, she would have to be the one to help.
The three of them extended the Battle Flag sideways, and the Celestial Sun Fire huffed out of existence. A second later, a gorgeous celestial blue snow swirled and settled on their weapons.
And so, Yasenia's last chanting verse fell.
"The night descends,
I return without a self.
Where beginning meets its end,
I transcend all else."
Her body slowly leaned forward, as if she were leaving her body to gravity's pull. As she leaned forward, her golden slit eyes sharpened, and her right leg stepped forward strongly. Both her copies looked at her from a distance with solemn expressions, their bodies covered in the same aura as Yasenia's.
The three disappeared, meeting right in the middle.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
"[Sky Soul Slicer]!"
"[Celestial Aegis: Nine Petals]."
"[Grand Cosmos Martial Art: Stellar Burst]!"
"[Grand Cosmos Martial Art: Nebula Ripple]."
The sound of clashing continuously shook the sky of the training room, their figures becoming blurry colored lines as they clashed absolutely everywhere. Yasenia's skills bloomed one after another, her Dantian supplying as much energy as it could.
Yasenia didn't know how long she had been fighting. From the 950th floor to the 901st floor, she had not met anyone and had stayed stuck within the bead. She could feel that the current level was her limit, so she was not sure if she could defeat the two perfect Golden Copies and meet the new challenge.
'If this is my limit… I'll just surpass it.'
Yasenia lunged forward, deviating one of the battle flags with Draheart. Her foot rushed forward, the arm holding Draheart being skewered and severed by the second copy.
Ignoring the pain and loss of an arm, she slipped past the copy's deflected attack, her spear rushing forward. The Copy would naturally not take it happily. Instead, she used her tail to block.
The Copy smirked, as if asking her, "What now?"
Yasenia, though, smiled like a predator who'd finally caught her prey. The second copy, who had severed Yasenia's arm, looked down and noticed Yasenia's foot rose quite high. Her eyes widened.
"DEFEND!"
"Too Late. [Celestial Tyrant's Soul Stomp]."
Yasenia stomped down, and with it, the world sank.
BOOM!!!
Both copies grunted, their souls and bodies crashing down together with Soluna's two copies. Soluna didn't miss her chance, gathering a massive Celestial Spear with her energy and throwing it at one of her copies.
The copy was blasted into oblivion, and Yasenia's Battle Flag, covered in Celestial Moon Ice, was thrown toward the second Soluna.
STAB!
With both Solunas gone, Yasenia was missing one arm and weaponless. Nevertheless, would an Ancient weapon and Sentient weapon allow themselves to be thrown out of her Master's hand?"
Draheart and the battle flag took the time both of Yasenia's copies took to recover to fly black. Draheart changed into an arm form, attaching herself to Yasenia's stump, while the battle flag fit straight into her right hand.
Looking down at her two copies, Yasenia grinned widely, blood smeared on her beautiful face. "Now it is a proper two against two."
Both copies looked up and matched Yasenia's wild grin.
With Empyrean Day and Night finished, both sides felt as if their bodies were about to collapse. The fight that followed was incredibly bloody, but in the end, Yasenia and Soluna managed to beat Yasenia's two copies, arriving at the 900th floor.
"One more, and I can finally get rid of the 9 before the floors."
Yasenia, completely recovered, turned around with a wide smile, but…
As she was about to prepare, her copy appeared before her, the battle flag already stabbing through her chest and bursting her heart.
Yasenia's eyes widened as she looked down. "C-Cough… W-What?"
The copy, enveloped in a light obsidian aura, smirked at Yasenia. "Go down and practice a bit more. You are far too weak to breach the 900s."
As she took out her battle flag, the multicolored Yasenia appeared and lightly palmed Yasenia on the chest.
BOOM!
After piercing through the floor, Yasenia crashed like a meteor. She looked at the sky, her eyes full of shock. "...Huh."
Final Floor: 901
Poem: Reforging of Self
"The night descends,
I will break myself.
As the strength transcends,
Henceforth, I will kill the self."
"The stars grow pale,
I will greet the dawn.
As the shadows fail,
A former me is gone."
"The heavens ignite,
I will rise with the sun.
Bathed in newborn light,
Self and sky become one."
"The sun crowns the sky,
I will stand above.
Neither earth nor heaven high
Shall bind what I become."
"The daylight bleeds,
I will shed my name.
As the dying heavens recede,
I leave behind my flame."
"The night descends,
I return without a self.
Where beginning meets its end,
I transcend all else."