The squirrel woman, Du Xian, was hugging Yasenia and rubbing her face on her soft skin while leaning completely on someone who was a complete stranger and she wanted to beat just moments ago. 

Even then, her face only radiated happiness as two blushes colored her white cheeks. The soul-depth comfort she felt was relaxing to the point that she had already lowered her guard to a point she should never have.

Thankfully for Du Xian, Yasenia just vented with Xiang Yinnu, so her wish for battle was momentarily quenched, leaving behind the softer side of her usual self. Moreover, her cuteness tugged Yasenia's ever-rising motherly instincts, even when the woman between her arms was probably more than seven times older than herself. 

Yasenia asked softly while scratching behind her animal ears and the length of her squirrel tail. "So, Du Xian, you are quite a strong woman. Why are you ranked so low?"

Du Xian frowned and looked upward with a pitiful gaze, feeling compelled to whine and act cute. "An enemy of my clan attacked me, and I was fighting for a long time… Moreover, I lost that fight, and with my injuries, I could only gain a 1.4 multiplier."

Yasenia nodded. "I see. Is that why you challenged me? But… There should be many others in the top fifty with Ethereal Soul Realm strength, right? To challenge the one who was ranked second, that's a bit of a risky thing to do, even if my cultivation is low, right?"

Du Xian blinked. "You were the only one I could challenge… All the Ethereal Soul cultivators besides you were fighting or resting." Then, the squirrel woman's face paled, and she looked at Yasenia with trembling eyes. "R-Right… I came here to challenge you…"

Yasenia saw the distress of the woman sitting on her lap at a glance and felt the corner of her heart soften. She hugged her tightly, squishing Du Xian into her soft embrace, and smiled while their faces were quite close. "Do you still want to fight me?" 

Du Xian's face first blushed when the weapons of massive destruction crushed and morphed under the pressure of the hug. When her eyes moved down out of curiosity, she was paralyzed at the sight. 'S-So big…' 

Yasenia almost burst into laughter, her eyes curving with mirth. "So?' 

Du Xian snapped out of her daze and looked up, meeting with the pair of slit-eyes that softly looked at her. She bit her lip, her emotions clearly appearing on her face. "I must. I'm the Matriarch of my race, after all…"

Yasenia blinked with surprise. "The Matriarch?"

Du Xian saw the disbelief on her face and pouted. "Believe it or not, I'm very strong."

Curious, she asked. "How do you compare to Xiang Yinnu?"

Instantly, the face of the squirrel girl darkened. "T-That's the enemy I was talking about! She is always trying to make me her puppet! Thankfully, Lian and I could endure her barrage of attacks. Did you know she has four low-level Epoch Core puppets? Truly abnormal. If you see her, you must be careful, Yasenia." 

The dragoness didn't know if to tell her the truth or not, but after a few moments, she decided to do so. 'Her reaction will probably be adorable.'

With a smirk, Yasenia spoke. "Well, you won't have to worry anymore about her."

Du Xian titled her head. "Why not?"

The dragoness laughed. "The person that challenged me before you was her, and I killed her." 

The already big eyes of the squirrel girl widened further, and her cute mouth opened. "W-What?" 

The dragoness stifled her laugh. 'As expected, really cute.'

While pinching her soft and glutinous cheek, Yasenia smiled. "Xiang Yinnu also wanted to make me a puppet, so she challenged me. We had a fight to the death, and I won." 

Du Xian's shocked expression changed to one of despair. "I-If you can beat a monster like that, how can I beat you?"

Yasenia finally burst into laughter, not being able to hold it anymore. "Silly Du Xian, why would an Ethereal Soul be on the top fifty if not because they are strong?" Then, she asked while poking her soft cheek. "By the way, who is Lian?"

Du Xian's wilted expression brightened again. "My husband! His name is Du Lian, and we've been together for more than a century."

Yasenia's eyes softened. "That's really commendable. How does he look?"

Du Xian titled her head. "Well… In my eyes, he is quite manly. But my friends from taller races say that he is cute…" Looking at Yasenia, Du Xian coughed. "He is a bit shorter than you."

Yasenia caught her strange tone and asked. "A bit?"

Du Xian looked sideways. "H-Half a head taller than me."

The dragoness laughed again. "I see. Just a bit smaller than me." Du Xian blushed.

Du Xian reached around Yasenia's stomach in height, so half a head taller meant that the man would barely reach her breast level, similar to Angel's size. 

As if to prove that he was great, Du Xian rambled about her husband. "He is as talented as me, having reached the low-level Epoch Core! Although he did so three hundred years later than me… But his body is really nice and muscular, and his tail is also gorgeous with red and yellow tones!"

Du Xian caught the sight of Yasenia's charming long tail, and the corner of her lips twitched. "W-Well, maybe not as nice as your tail… But he is the best in my eyes!" 

The dragoness nodded with a smile. "I see. He must be fantastic to be liked by a cute woman like you. By the way… How old are you, Du Xian?" 

"Me? I'm eight hundred and twenty-five years old." 

The dragoness smiled. "Wow, I'm nothing but a little girl in front of you. Should I call you senior?"

Du Xian blinked. "Really? How old are you?"

Yasenia smiled with a hint of anticipation and confessed her actual age. "Fifty years old."

One more time, the cute squirrel girl's face changed to a dumbfounded one, looking so adorable that Yasenia began pinching her cheeks. "You are adorable, senior." 

Du Xian blushed again. 'M-My heart is going to go haywire if Yasenia keeps teasing me. She is so pretty!' 

Then, the thoughts of the challenge came to her mind again, making her sulk. 'But I don't want to fight her.'

Yasenia poked her cheek. "Why are you sulking again? Are you thinking about the challenge?"

Du Xian nodded and looked at Yasenia. 

Yasenia calculated in her head. 'If she is winning 1.4 and I'm winning 2.2, if I give her thirty percent of my winnings, she can't overcome me, right? After all, she would be winning 1.4 + 0.66, which makes her win 2.06 points even if she does everything perfectly. Of course, she has one more ticket… Speaking of which, did she win the previous one? I should ask.'

"Du Xian, did you win your previous ticket?"

Du Xian shook her head. "I challenged Grace, the rank 47, but I lost. It was very close, though. I was beaten because she used three [Clone Shadow Talisman], and I only used one [Clone Shadow Talisman]." 

Yasenia's eyes opened slightly larger. 'Wait, [Clone Shadow Talisman]? Was she able to reach the tenth minute? Maybe I've been underestimating her.'

Du Xian pouted. "She beat me in the tenth minute for only 0.09 seconds, so I ranked 51st, also losing the extra 0.2 multiplier in the second event! I've been very unlucky this entire tournament…"

The dragoness pondered and then asked with a smile. "Say, little Du Xian. If I let you win, can you and your clan become allies with my sect?"

Du Xian was surprised and lifted her head from the comfortable embrace. "Which sect?"

Yasenia commented. "The Astral Sky Sect."

Du Xian's eyes cutely opened wide. "That new sect who destroyed several clans? Wait… You were that woman who challenged the wolf clan and ape clan on the mountain!"

The dragoness nodded. "Yes, did you finally remember?" Yasenia smirked and used her hands to fondle her squishy cheeks. "So? Are you interested?"

Du Xian blushed but did not push her away. Her caresses were actually really soft and comfortable. With a bashful nod, she agreed. "If you want… By the way! I'm the Matriarch of the [Lightning Squirrel Clan]."

Yasenia blinked. 'Hm, a relatively weak clan. They are the twenty-seventh Clan of the thirty-three clans.'

A thought popped into her mind, and she asked. "Say, Du Xian, how tall are you between those of your race?"

The squirrel girl did not know why she asked, but she answered honestly. "Quite average." 

Yasenia blinked. "Including males?"

Du Xian nodded. Then, she puffed her modest breasts and said. "I-I'm even a bit big in the chest area."

However, right after she puffed her small breasts, her chest collided with the pair of white mountains that were bigger than her own head, making her gulp. 'Dragons are so big…'

Meanwhile, Yasenia was stunned. 'A group of cute squirrel people?'

A cling sound was heard, making both of them look up. 

They saw a timer ticking down from 3600. The dragoness titled her head. "What's that?"

Du Xian blinked. "The timer to mark the end of the battle. If you don't defeat me before that timer, I will win by default."

Yasenia's eyebrows raised. "How do you know?"

Du Xian scratched her cheek. "A message has appeared in front of me." 

The dragoness lifted an eyebrow. "So, if the challenger and the challenged tie, the one who got challenged loses anyway?"

Du Xian nodded cutely. "That seems to be the case." 

Yasenia smiled and looked at Du Xian. "So, do you want to cuddle until that timer is finished?"

Du Xian felt shy but happy. Then, she understood the meaning of Yasenia's words, and her eyes widened. "You…"

The dragoness blinked and tilted her head with a soft smile. "What's wrong?"

She swallowed the words when she saw the encouraging gaze and hugged Yasenia tightly. "Thank you."

The dragoness smiled and leaned back, using her fingers to massage the acupuncture points on Du Xian's back accurately. Du Xian's body softened even further, and she almost purred in delight. 

"Tell me how you met your husband." 

Du Xian completely leaned on Yasenia, closing her eyes in happiness. "Well, as the strongest squirrel-kin, I am responsible for creating offspring so that the future generations have a better chance. I said that if someone wanted to marry me, they needed to be at least able to fight me and beat me."

Yasenia laughed. "Quite an interesting thing to say."

Du Xian looked up and laughed. "Right? Du Lian was one of the strongest male squirrels, so he cultivated tirelessly for centuries. He had been my suitor from even before that time, but because of my duty, I never really had time to look around. Of course, there were many other squirrel-kin that wanted my hand. I liked quite a few of the ones participating."

Yasenia nodded. "I see. It was more of a marriage because of interest."

Du Xian nodded and then smiled. "I told myself I'll treat with sincerity no matter who wins. Since Du Lian won, we've been a very close couple, and I've been very happy since then." 

Then, she laughed. "Sixty-two years ago, I gave birth to my first cub~. An adorable girl. Once I return, I'll probably try for the next one."

Then, Yasenia saw Du Xian's face become proud. "Her talents are better than her Mom's, so I have high hopes for her."

Yasenia smiled and poked her cheek. "I'm sure she will grow to become someone powerful and influential."

Du Xian nodded, her usual cute face becoming more mature and soft-looking. Yasenia could see a mother behind her facial expression, filling her heart with longing that she quickly suppressed. 

With a laugh, Du Xian commented. "Speaking of which, you are younger than my child." 

The dragoness nodded and playfully acted cute, rubbing her face with hers while whispering in a sensual tone. "Senior is so nice. Can you pat my head~?" 

Du Xian almost had nasal bleeding and patted Yasenia's head, her entire face looking red enough to be concerned. "E-En, very cute~." 

Yasenia laughed and separated, quickly changing the roles and petting the cute woman between her arms again. 

Recovering from the lethal surprise attack, Du Xian asked. "What about you? Any romantic relationships? I can give you advice if you want."

The dragoness smiled at her sincerity and spoke. "Thanks, Du Xian. But there is no need. I have a harem of six girls. We are still young, so we have yet to have children. But… I have a daughter. She is about five years old, and I feel quite lonely after leaving her behind in the sect."

With a frown, the Du Xian asked with a chilly tone. "Did the father abandon you?"

The dragoness was surprised at the cold aura around her. It was actually intimidating. 'Wow, I can see why she is the Matriarch.' 

Then, she shook her head. "Not at all… It's a bit complicated." 

Yasenia laughed and changed the subject. "Never mind that. Did you know that you are lucky that you are so cute, Du Xian?"

The squirrel woman blinked and asked. "Why?"

Yasenia looked at her and used her legs and arms to hug her. "I was trying assassination via seduction techniques. I didn't expect you to be such a cutie."

The squirrel woman tensed between Yasenia's arms like prey in a predator's claws. "O-Oh, really." 

The way Yasenia was hugging her was very constricting, and the dancing long dragon tail hovering around her looked a bit more dangerous than before. 

Yasenia softened the tense body between her arms while laughing with a low tone and giving her a muscle-deep massage. "Don't worry, I would not have said that if I still thought so. I just wanted to say that you must be a bit more careful with other people in the future."

Du Xian's body relaxed again, and her squirrel tail moved back and forth. "Um."

Yasenia explained where her sect was located and how to participate in the test, telling her that if she wanted, she could move inside and leave the inappropriate members on Astral Sky City. 

Hearing the many benefits, she was naturally delighted. The Squirrel clan was considered a weak second-rate power, so the fact that she met a growing powerhouse like Yasenia felt like a blessing. Even if she couldn't win the competition, Du Xian was satisfied just with this connection. 

Du Xian and Yasenia discussed many things regarding their powers for an hour and then stood up.

The squirrel girl looked at Yasenia with reluctance, hugging her waist again and burying her face in her breasts. "Can we meet if the next event is for all of us?" 

Yasenia patted her head and caressed her furry ears. "Of course."

Du Xian smiled and laughed. "Nice! See you later, Yasenia!"

Then, the time ended, and a message appeared before Yasenia's eyes.

[You've been defeated. 30% of the points you win will be added as an extra to Du Xian's points.]

***********************************************************

Yasenia: A relaxing time~. 

Cecile: Hm… Strange.

Yasenia: What's strange, sweetheart?

Cecile: The fact that I didn't feel jealousy. 

Tatyana: I mean, that woman has a child and a husband. If you still felt jealousy, it would be strange and inappropriate. Even I feel nothing.

Cecile: Right. But you would feel nothing even if Yasenia starts to have sex with the maids. I would. 

Tatyana: Hm… Well, in that regard, you might actually be more narrow-minded than me. But, if we are speaking about increasing the harem…

Cecile: Oh, in that case, you would be the one that gets mad the most. I'm not discussing that. 

Andrea: I mean, one would probably freeze everything, while the other one would kill everything. I don't think you two are that different, to be honest… Even then, why does it sound like you two are competing on who is more jealous?

Yasenia: Aren't they cute?

Andrea: … 

Author: They are quite-

Tatyana: Quite?

Author: ... Cute. 

Tatyana: That's what I thought. *Smile.*

Author: Cough, I summon you! 

WPOmega: Here I am.

Evelyn: Hey. 

WPOmega: My original question was going to be, "Do were-beasts exist?" but with Beast Cultivators and Beast-Humans, there's no way that any legends of, say, Werewolves don't stem from their existence. So, my question is, are there any cultivation techniques or skills that would give a pure human a beast or bestial transformation? 

Tatyana: An interesting question. The answer is yes, there are. Cultivation Techniques that focus on metamorphosis can be relatively strong. Or so I heard.

Mirrory: In the higher realms, many humans join beast clans to get similar cultivation techniques. The reason was that the lost real Body Cultivation methods made it difficult to reach high realms with only physical skills. As a substitute, Spiritual Techniques that focus on the body or transform the body were created. 

WPOmega: Oh, that's interesting.

Mirrory: Another way to increase the strength of the body is to be injected with the marrow, blood, or blood essence of a powerful bloodline beast. Humans have a very adaptable bloodline, and they can even gain abilities to semi-transform into beasts. For example, if Yasenia fed a human her blood essence, it would be extremely beneficial, and they might even unlock a way to use a draconic transformation with Yasenia's traits.

Mirrory: Naturally, as strong as this is, the compatibility is another thing. If a, let's say, nature cultivator absorbed Yasenia's blood essence without any ritual or skill, it can become dangerous. An exception would be those that have their body accustomed to her, meaning our girls.

WPOmega: I see. I feel like I've exited with more questions than I initially had, though. 

Author: And that's all for today! 

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Author Note: pa tre on.com/posts/dragon-mounting-94112775 Dragon Mounting Phoenix (NSFW) (First Sketch). Check it out~. :3