All three of them stopped their thoughts again, looking at Yasenia as if she were a crazy person. Angel stuttered, "Y-Yasenia, although I'm thankful, I don't think that we have to go that far. I think it will be more troublesome than helpful if you force Saint Fu Jing Jing to do that."
The Mirror laughed in ridicule, "What can a junior force? If Jing Jing wanted, she would already be dead!"
Angel frowned and pouted, "Stop saying those things!"
The Mirror choked in her laughter and shut up, looking at Angel stupidly, 'I forgot I am in a slave contract with her! Ugh, so bothersome.' She humphed and glared at Yasenia.
Fu Jing Jing, however, wouldn't underestimate the heaven-defying dragon in front of her. She can't remember the number of seniors who fell to "inexperienced" juniors because they underestimated them too much.
Yasenia patted Angel's head and explained, "You see… My mother has always been fearful that I fell into the trap of someone offering me an inheritance. I was born with one, so my mother told me not to accept another because the risk outweighs the benefits. However, she also taught me two important things after something almost irreversible happened to one of my lovers."
Fu Jing Jing suddenly remembered one demonic practice, and her eyes widened with fear.
Yasenia saw it and her smile returned to the previous cruel one, "The first thing is that, after adding and mixing blood essence in an assimilation or inheritance ritual, depending on the blood essence quality, the inheritance would evolve and get out of the control of the one giving the inheritance."
Fu Jing Jing shook her head and exclaimed, "You wouldn't dare! You wouldn't dare do that demonic practice!"
Yasenia's smile widened and said, her silver eyes being tainted by red as if red ink had dropped into her iris. "The second thing is that, right after the inheritance, since it was stained with blood, the person receiving the inheritance will gain the ability to devour the one giving the inheritance. This will let the inheritor gain the remaining karma and luck of the one giving the inheritance at the cost of a little bit of potential. However, if the absorbed senior is strong enough, absorbing them would result in a better result than not doing it."
Yasenia chuckled and said, "Miss Saint is plenty strong, wouldn't you think?"
The Mirror said, her voice cold, "If you do that, you can forget of me aiding Angel. I will not only not aid her, but I will also try to sabotage everything I can!"
Yasenia raised an eyebrow, "Do you have a chance? You are a slave, Truth Mirror. No matter how powerful, you can't disobey Angel as long as her orders do not harm you."
The Mirror sneered and said, "Didn't you hate demons? You are worse than one at this moment."
Yasenia laughed, "I can guess how you learned that information. Still, who asked you to almost cripple my dear permanently? There must be a punishment, whether you like it or not."
Yasenia looked back at the Mirror with a cold gaze and said, "Even if you don't aid her, I don't care. I'm more than enough help for Angel to reach the pinnacle. You are nothing more than a powerful weapon."
Fu Jing Jing looked at the black sphere around her and then at Yasenia.
Her voice was calm as she said, "I was confused about your objective, but now I know about it. I didn't want to do this, but you left me with no choice."
Yasenia looked at Fu Jing Jing and asked, "Are you going to explode yourself? Soul explosion is certainly powerful. I will certainly die if you do that. However, it is even worse than being devoured. Although you will be able to reincarnate after a soul explosion, your future reincarnations will be filled with extremely bad luck. A sex slave, having your family slaughtered, all your loved ones dying, betrayal, everything bad you can think about will certainly happen."
Fu Jing Jing's calm facade broke, "How do you know that? Soul explosion is only a concept known by Gods!"
Yasenia proudly said, "My mother is awesome, after all."
Angel nodded, parroting Yasenia. "En, Mommy Tatyana is super awesome!"
"Anyway, Saintess Fu Jing Jing, I will give you an option since, well, even I don't want to be this ruthless to the person that supposedly saved the cultivation world. I also don't want the Mirror to be rebellious with Angel since it could mean the difference between life and death in a tense moment. Moreover, the knowledge of the Mirror will help Angel tremendously."
The Mirror and Fu Jing Jing listened attentively. Yasenia said, her voice regaining her calm tone with a touch of gentleness. "Give all your soul power to Angel. Then, go into the cycle of reincarnation."
They were surprised for a second, and then Fu Jing Jing smiled. "You sure are a cheeky dragon. I don't think I've ever had such big ups and downs of emotions in such a short timeframe. You win, Yasenia. Although I wanted to do some things, agreeing with you isn't a bad deal."
Fu Jing Jing looked at the clueless Angel and smiled softly, "Even if she has mutated, she is still my inheritor. A very cute and gentle inheritor."
Then, she looked at Yasenia and said, "I will accept the deal."
"I thought your head was empty. It seems that you are full of ideas." The Mirror snorted, but it was clear that it was also agreeable.
They reacted like that because of the definition of Soul Power. Soul power is not only the strength of the soul, but it also has luck, karma, and accumulated deeds in it.
For example, someone that has killed millions of innocent people dies. Then, they would reincarnate, and the reincarnation would be prone to slaughter. Of course, where they grow up, who they meet, and what they learn when growing up can change the person. But their nature would be that of someone that feels nothing for killing.
The reason for this is that when the soul reincarnates, even though they lose their memories most of the time, there is still some influence from their past lives.
Fu Jing Jing's soul power would make her somewhat of a kind, heroic, talented, and courageous woman in her next reincarnation. However, because of her Saint feats, she would also carry the mentality of a martyr.
Fu Jing Jing was sure that her next reincarnation would die after sacrificing themselves for something or someone. The influence from her Saint Title was too big, after all.
There was a risk when losing Soul Power, which was that after someone gives or loses their soul power, the soul would be unable to remain independent, meaning that they would be forced to reincarnate.
So asking her to reincarnate was a way to say, "I want you to strengthen your inheritor and stop being an influence in this world."
In other words, Yasenia wanted Fu Jing Jing to cut her fate with everything and reincarnate as a new leaf. If Fu Jing Jing were to reincarnate before giving her soul strength, she would keep the karma she accumulated in her life and certainly would reach extreme heights once again.
But Fu Jing Jing didn't want something like that.
Therefore, Fu Jing Jing was actually glad about giving up supremacy and her soul traits for a peaceful life. The Mirror was very fond of Fu Jing Jing, so it was almost happier than Fu Jing Jing herself. Knowing that Fu Jing Jing had wanted to exit from this vortex she was in, she was glad about this outcome.
They both looked at Yasenia deeply and sighed. Fu Jing Jing chuckled, "You actually played us, seniors, easily. You didn't want to kill me since the beginning."
Yasenia snorted, "Although I'm extremely angry at both of you, I am not stupid enough to endanger my dears because of killing a Saint. You wouldn't even have had to lose an arm if the arrogant Mirror kept its mouth shut."
The Mirror's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, 'I will never be able to get along with this stupid lizard!'
Yasenia continued, "I know what it means to kill or absorb someone titled as a Saint by the Heavens themselves. However, I meant every word of what I said before. I just let you go because it is the best solution to maintain a relatively calm life. Being stubborn because of pride and arrogance is the epitome of stupidity."
When she finished saying that, the black sphere around Fu Jing Jing disappeared.
Fu Jing Jing slowly floated downward towards them.
Even without an arm, her figure was still ethereally beautiful. Fu Jing Jing gave a little laugh at the absurdity of the situation. "Little Angel, you got one heck of a protector. Cherish her dearly."
Angel's proudness and adoration level broke their limit. A Saint sincerely praising her Yasenia? She will brag about this plenty in the near future. 'As expected, Yasenia is the best~.'
Angel suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, my constitution changed into [Scarlet Heart's Prismatic Crystal Body]. They have both combined into one!"
Fu Jing Jing stopped and thought about it for a second. Then, she said, "I have never heard about that physique. I suppose it is the result of absorbing the dragon's blood essence. There will be a big change after you cross into the Dantian Spiritualization realm or Transcendence realm. Well, I can't feel evilness from it, so you shouldn't worry."
Angel nodded.
Fu Jing Jing looked at the Mirror and said, "Guide her well. However, remember that her path is not the same as mine. Don't try to impose it on her; you just have to be her advisor."
The Mirror smiled and said, "Don't worry. Who would want to have a master that kills themselves? Not me, at least."
Fu Jing Jing laughed, "It was honestly something I didn't expect to do. However, I couldn't continue staying put and seeing the world slowly destroy itself. Many Gods and Immortals fell to that Tribulation, all because the Sun God and Moon Goddess almost damaged the Heavens irreversibly while killing each other."
Yasenia asked curiously, "Are they alive?"
Fu Jing Jing shook her head, "Impossible. They used attacks that killed them. However, they may have left an inheritance somewhere. They were also from the dragon race, so you may have much more to do with them than you think."
Yasenia asked, "Can you describe them?"
Fu Jing Jing nodded, "The Moon Goddess looked as cold as the Moon, and she was as beautiful as a starry sky. Her black dragon tail was elegant and long, and her bearing was imposing. Not many were as strong as her."
Yasenia's eyebrow jumped. Then she asked, "What about the Sun God?"
"He could illuminate the day with his smile, just like the Morning Sun, and his presence was all-encompassing. His Golden dragon tail marked his status, and his charm made women and even some men flock like fireflies to the flame. Even if they knew they would burn, they wanted to at least touch that flame for a second."
Yasenia blinked and smiled, "Interesting."
Fu Jing Jing looked at Angel and said, "Relax your mind, Angel. I'm going to transfer it."
Angel nodded and closed her eyes.
Fu Jing Jing leaned forward and touched Angel's forehead with her own.
Then, her body exploded in beautiful white particles and dissipated. Angel's aura didn't change much, but when Yasenia tried to probe her with her energy, she felt as if that energy had fallen into a bottomless ocean.
Angel's soul couldn't and didn't instantly absorb all that soul power, but there was a white sphere floating in her spiritual sea that would slowly unravel as she advanced in cultivation. Now, Angel's potential was limitless.
Moreover, that soul power was pure and for Angel to mold with her actions. Therefore, it wouldn't affect her in any way or form.
The Mirror looked at those particles and smiled softly, "Thank you for your hard work. I pray for you to have a beautiful and fulfilling life, Jing Jing."
Angel opened her eyes slowly and looked at those light particles. Then, she smiled and said, "May the Saint rest and live happily for all her reincarnations."
Awesome arc! Enjoying the whole story. Keep the chapters coming.
So many comments complaining about this angel part. I liked it.
See angel going through unknown ritual: act like a meat head to lower their guard and to find answers
Possible possession: bluff that willing to kill angel in process if it has chance to save her. Now million year old monster opinion becomes lower, playing right into yas hands. And yas takes control of the momentum of the scenario
She has had 23 years to think back on all Tatyana teachings, what to do what not to do.. she is able to keep status quo on her side while manipulating the scenario for best benfit.
at the end she played the scenario where you offer the absolute worst choice possible at first to make them think second choice is better.. (just like what happened with her dress)
I think this angel part really shows how much yasenia has reflected and learned within the trial.
Congrats on chapter 300
Thanks a lot, T_T; this is one of the two minor arcs where I got quite a few readers upset, hahaha. I think it could've definitely been written a bit better, but I was actually quite satisfied, hahaha. <3
TFTC! Wohoo! Congrats on 300 awesome Chapters!
What a nice touch letting Yase learn who the elders are and I really enjoyed the rather peaceful and logival resolution of Angels power-up arc!
Well, i wanted to call it today anyways, but it seems even more fitting mow: Yase still has the dragon egg in her storage and she doesn't know what to do with it. What many people probably forgot her elders (now known as the sun and moon godess) onl stay with her until she passes the mortal realms. This means that this next tribulation will be the last one. So either the Egg needs the energy of the heavens in form of a bolt or the elders will do something to the egg, "activating" it or even reincarnate into the egg to grow up alongside her. It would be rather fitting to have a companion dragon that are the gods of the celestial bodies. On further thought, maybe it could also hatch once she has a connection to the celestial element.
Although i liked the power-up arc, a get together will be needed soon to be able to go against the threats now in this realm
next tribulation will be the last one
There are still 2 tribulations to go. 1 to enter the unification realm, and another to enter the Dantian transformation realm.
Yas feels like she's just gonna become a full on psychopath like she was already morally dubious at best but now she's just a horrible person I feel like the more powerful she gets the more she is gonna just turn into a villain bullying everyone she doesn't like. Theres been small hints of this throughout the story like her skipping the line in the way she did, even though it ment nothing really she's just completely in the wrong there killing those people.
It seems like she's just gonna end up killing billions on a whim and people outside her harem will be at the point that only reason people won't fight her is cus she's strong. She's on the path to a dictator, I know it seems like a bit of a stretch but If this is her after 23 years than after a thousand this seems very very likely imo.
I feel that what happened with the Saint was a good solution. The mirror though.. not so much. The saint didn't even do anything wrong. It was the mirror that forced everything and broke Angel's mind. Yet, it gets to continue it's existence. Even if it's a slave contract it might as well have been an equal contract because Angel is who she is. The thing deserve to be ground down to nourish Angel's cultivation instead.
I like the changes with Yasenia. Well, maybe not like, but they make sense and I hope she keeps some of that brutality. 20+ years of war should leave a lasting impact for sure, even for people as brutal as cultivators.
I wish we would have had some chapters with her in the war though, to get used to a gradually changing Yasenia. She was 20, I think, when she entered that trial. She's spent more than double her original years, inside it. She is going to be a completely different person that we don't know.
I realise that some of her old personality is going to come back once she's with the girls again, but having some context to her mental changes outside a generic "she was in a war" would have made it much better. Right now we can only attribute her out of character reactions to the trial in general, but nothing specific. Like the betrayal that was mentioned, or her loss of a person she cared about that was also mentioned etc.
because the risk overweights the benefits.
>>because the risk outweighs the benefits<<
Thank you for the feedback~. <3
I was born with one, so my mother told me not to accept another because the risk overweights the benefits
overweights -> outweighs
You wouldn't even have to lose an arm if the arrogant Mirror wasn't cocky and maintained its mouth closed
You wouldn't even have had to lose an arm if the arrogant Mirror kept its mouth shut
No. I dont like how this 40+ yr old MC keikaku'd a million years old saint. Did this saint just suck her thumb and stumbled her way to being the powerhouse that she was? I thought heaven was just waiting for MC to make a move before smiting? Was enslaving the saint with a demonic ritual interruption not enough?
Then you tell me saint actually knew? Well if I was the saint I'd say f*ck you, f*ck that, and cancel the ritual and comdemn Angel to being mentally ret*rded forever. Beats being enslavaed and possibly consumed. Sure MC might kill me, but with my pull in heaven, I'd be laughing all the way to the next reincarnation circle.
I really hope that if I continue to read and another situation like this happens, the MC's group at least suffers some consequence and not skip merrily on their way to the next arc.
I'll take it into account. Thank you for the feedback! This arc was a learning experience that I deeply internalized.
Yasenia becomes more and more unlikeable.
I do t like it. But ... That's just me.
No, you are right. This time Yasenia has become different because of her just exiting the Trial. However, there is a reason, and it was my mistake while writing this part. Don't worry. Keep reading, and it should be better. These five chapters of Angel's arc were a bit... Not up to par. However, if, even after this arc, you keep seeing the trend you pointed out, write a comment on what you think is wrong with it. Thank you for the feedback~.
@Mortrexo Thanks for replying to me. I'll obviously read more. This book - as far as I have read it - is just soooo good. Right now I'm only hoping, she doesn't turn into another "young mistress". I love to read stories where mc isn't just an asshole. I'm more a "as long as you don't antagonize me, i won't antagonize you"-person. Which includes stealing things. Especially if these things are not absolutely vital. Fair Trade should always be the first option. But again: that's just me.
@Dhivael Well, then I think you'll enjoy future chapters. Have a nice read, and thank you for the compliment!
Honestly, no, I don't like this resolution. This whole section has been a mess from the moment Yasenia found the ritual. The conflict shouldn't have even happened that way, all the Saint should have had to do was say that just cancelling the ritual would be harmful to Angel, which was true, and the whole thing would have played out differently. It didn't have to go exactly the way the Saint was planning, but the fight just felt wrong and unnecessary.
This resolution has too much of a "just as planned" feeling for something that Yasenia didn't even know was happening until she found it. All that conflict and the end result was somehow something that ends up great for everyone? Somehow she knew that the ritual would end with her being damaged so she could sneak her blood essence in without being noticed? There's too many coincidences.
Hmm, it certainly feels that way. I wanted to create a bit of drama and ended up creating a bit of an absurd episode. Thanks for the feedback, Yakumo. I'll try to do better in the future! How would you have handled it if it isn't much to ask? How do you think Yasenia would've reacted at the sight of Angel being trapped in an unknown ritual after being isolated for so long inside the Trial?
@Mortrexo Honestly, it's really hard to answer your question about Yasenia's reaction because of that 23 year timeskip. Your main character all of a sudden has spent more than half of her life off-screen in a continuous, horrific, life and death situation. We know almost nothing(at least at this point) about what happened during that time, and she's obviously acting differently. You immediately wrote in this conflict without giving us a chance to get to know the 'new' Yasenia. Everything reads as out of character but that might be because we don't actually know what's in character anymore, since an experience like that is obviously going to change her somehow.
As for how I would have handled it, well, there's a reason I'm reading other people's stories and not writing my own. That said, I meant what I said in the first comment. One of the first things I would be changing is to have the Saint mention that stopping the ritual at that point would be harmful to Angel. That's kind of really important but gets left until much later in the confrontation. Changing that would probably remove most of the actual physical fight because Yasenia wouldn't want to risk hurting Angel.
You could make it more about Yasenia trying to figure out what the ritual is actually doing, whether and how much she can trust the Saint, and why she feels the need to interfere with the ritual. To be honest, after reading this section I wasn't entirely sure why Yasenia felt like the ritual was so bad that she had to use her blood essence to disrupt it, so you could use this to give a bit more detail and make the resolution feel a bit less abrupt. The way you wrote the resolution to the problem seems to come out of nowhere and relies a little too much on coincidence. If you change the confrontation from a primarily physical one to a mental one, you can clue the reader in on what Yasenia knows about the ritual and foreshadow the result a little bit better.
@Yakumo Wow, thank you so much for the feedback! It is a really interesting way of putting things. I'll take it into account for future confrontations.
but when Yasenia tried to prove her with
probe?