Once she developed the [Monarch Intent Domain], Yasenia didn't rush to go out. Instead, she made sure to prepare thoroughly before leaving. After all, the sect seemed hell-bent on testing her for some reason. Therefore, she wouldn't be comfortable if she didn't prepare as well as she could before the tests.
She had survived that horrifying Sixth Realm Tribulation after so much trouble and preparation, so she wasn't going to be taken by surprise by some strange normal trial. 'As Mom said to me, confidence and arrogance are half a step apart. The only difference is that confident people have prepared the best they could before tackling the problem.'
Therefore, Yasenia closed her eyes and submerged herself into the Primordial Palace. "First, I'll need to stabilize the Spiritual Path. It is the core of my entire cultivation and what keeps everything balanced and connected."
After stepping into the room with the red crystal, she waved her hand, and a scroll appeared in front of her, pulsing with energy. "[Convergence of the Celestial Bodies]." She smiled faintly. "The cultivation technique I've relied on for my entire life."
The Spiritual Path Cultivation Scroll was divided into five steps. By the time she was in the Unification Realm, she had already understood the first three. [Presence Of Celestial Bodies], [Absorption Of Celestial Light], and [Connection With Celestial Bodies].
In [Presence Of Celestial Bodies], Yasenia managed to develop her first complex skill, her Energy Coat. It had gone through a lot of transformation, eventually transforming into an innate skill as well. Now, the skill called [Celestial Cosmos Dress] was almost constantly activated around her.
Then, she unlocked [Day and Night Cycle] and all the skills that were needed to activate it during the [Absorption Of Celestial Light] stage. These skills had become her go-to trump card when things were at their worst. A faint smile appeared when she remembered all the times she used the ultimate skill.
Finally, she mastered [Connection With Celestial Bodies] during her rebirth. The mix of all the aura skills that she developed, then combined with her birth intent, developed into the innate skill [Empryrean Galaxy Domain].
After developing the third part, the next one felt like an insurmountable mountain and a task impossible to tackle, even when she was at the peak of the mortal realms. "Now, though…"
Yasenia waved her hand and unfurled [Convergence of the Celestial Bodies], making the energy around her stir as imagery of the Sun, Moon, and Stars enveloped the room. With the energy surging around her, she muttered. "I can finally see why I couldn't understand you. Why I couldn't even start to practice… [Celestial Bodies and Spirit as One]."
The dragoness slowly stroked the deep texts, runes, and chants in the technique. "I can only be one with the Celestial Bodies after remaking my body and connecting deeply with the Cosmos." The Sixth Realm was the realm where cultivators changed from being "users of energy" to being "one with energy."
Yasenia took the empyrean scroll in her hands and sat cross-legged in front of the red crystal related to the Spiritual Path and energy. "Hm… Like the previous ones, there are three sub-realms before I can achieve [Celestial Bodies and Spirit as One]. [Spirit and the Sun as One], [Spirit and the Moon as One], and [Spirit and the Stars as One]."
Like with the realms before them, each one of the sub-realms had core skills that would then help with a skill that she would unlock when she completed the realm. "I guess I should be able to unlock it straight away. It never was something locked behind energy limits but understanding, after all."
Therefore, the dragoness focused and began studying the scroll seriously as she cultivated. Time flowed like a raging river during this time, but Yasenia didn't mind it. She, who had reached the Sixth Realm, couldn't skip the time one needed to invest, regardless of her talent.
After one year had passed since she entered Closed Door cultivation, Yasenia's eyes flashed, and her surroundings changed. An image of the Moon, Sun, and thousands of smaller but bright white Stars were floating around her.
During the several months that she used to practice the technique, she had been using the surrounding energy to construct these phantoms around her. Not without motive, but subconsciously. It was as if the technique was guiding her in her first baby steps about the creation of cosmic bodies.
"... and so, the cosmos comes from organized chaos, but always wishes to return to its most fundamental state. Yet, the energy will never allow it, as for the cosmos to return to its simplest and most uniform state, energy must also lose its concept." Yasenia allowed the scroll to float upward, and she placed her hands in front of her as if she were holding something small and fragile between them.
"With this step, my skills evolve and become one with the cosmos." As she separated her hands, a beautiful blue light appeared in the gap between them. Yasenia's peaceful expression while looking at that small light resembled that of a mother looking at her newborn child. "[Firmament Dividing Celestial Twilight]."
The blue dot expanded, gaining the shape of Draheart, and then Yasenia slashed it upward. Her Soul World changed at that moment. The seemingly infinite cosmos around her was divided in half, with one half showing the hours of daylight, while the other half showed the process of day turning into nighttime.
At the far right edge, the sky was bright blue, with a strong Sun floating in the middle. Yet, as one moved toward the middle, that sun went down not toward sunset, but toward the lights of dawn. Meanwhile, in the middle of the cosmos-wide slash, you could observe as the orange light of dawn changed to the pinkish lights of dusk. From then on, it became darker until, at the furthest edge at the left, the full Moon stood pristine in the middle of a night dark enough to consume all but the stars in the sky.
This move was the final combination of all her skills she developed to complete [Day And Night cycle]: [Sunrise], [Sunset], [Crescent Moon], [Waning Moon], [Noon], [Midnight], [Full Moon], [Dusk], [Dawn], [Starry Sky], and [Moonless Night].
Yasenia smiled faintly as she looked at the complex and incredibly moving sky. "Eventually, I'll create the true twilight of the cosmos. For now, I also need a simpler attack that doesn't consume as much energy."
Looking at the floating scroll, Yasenia caressed it gently and then kept it in her Dantian. The scroll became peaceful, as if it had used up lots of energy and wanted to rest.
Yasenia then stepped out of the room she was in and walked into the room to the right. There, another red pillar stood proudly, but unlike the other, which released incredibly pure and ancient Spiritual Energy, this one released Soul Energy of a similar quality.
"Let's see… [Celestial Firmament Tyrannical Soul Art], come out."
The scroll manifested in front of her, space around it wobbling as its terrifying soul energy aura affected its surroundings. "Good." The dragoness gently caressed the scroll and then unfurled it. "Let's see… How can I develop my Soul Techniques with you?"
Her Soul Techniques were abundant, but they weren't excessive. All of them were focused on developing a tyrannical soul presence and stomping her enemies without a shred of disregard. So, to find a way to combine the dozens of skills, Yasenia needed to understand and condense what this technique was trying to achieve.
And so, Yasenia sat cross-legged for another year in front of the pillar as she looked deeply into the techniques. "A soul so tyrannical that even the elements of the cosmos bend to your will. A soul that can suppress the world as if it were its skies." Yasenia's aura by the end of her cultivation was anything but peaceful and calm like before. Now, the dragoness was actively showing a terrifying aura around her. It felt as if a single look would be enough for Yasenia to obliterate you due to having tainted the world around her.
With an indifferent face, Yasenia gently floated up, and when her foot touched the ground, her lips were chanting a few words coldly. "[Celestial Tyrant Soul Unshackled], [Firmament Soul Sword]."
The world around her shuddered as Yasenia's body was enveloped in dreadful soul energies. Her soul seemed to want to consume its surroundings as it manifested like a godly monarch descended from the skies. Then, a pale white sword similar to Draheart appeared once more before her, while the strength of her soul increased exponentially. Grabbing the sword with both hands, Yasenia lifted it and then descended the sword. "[Soul Dividing Tyrannical Cleave]."
The cosmos in front of Yasenia divided for a moment, the lights splitting apart from the cutting point before they slowly rejoined. Then, the dragoness released a breath, and all her auras disappeared with that breath, returning her to normal. "A sword that can cut immaterial things and also deal several extra effects like forceful illusion creation and other effects. Not bad."
Satisfied with those three skills, Yasenia landed on the ground and walked toward the last room with red crystals. This one emitted pure body-refining energy. Just being by the crystal's side made Yasenia's body start perspiring slightly, as if the energies were working on her body already.
Before she started, Yasenia took another refining bath. She had been taking them weekly. Any more often would be a waste of materials and efficiency. Moreover, allowing the body to heal and regain some of its stamina between refinements yielded better results.
Unlike with spirit and body, Yasenia didn't sit cross-legged but instead deployed her martial arts. 'Body Cultivation never gave me too many extraordinary skills. Therefore, I must focus on what [Celestial Cosmos Immortal Body Technique] does best: enhancing my strength and durability.'
After settling on what she wanted, Yasenia spent another full year in this room refining all her body skills into just a few that she could use. [Immortal Breaker Body], [Firmament Shaking Arc], and [Seven Cosmos Martial Smite].
The first one was a body-focused buff. It gave her an overall increased strength, perception, durability, speed, and any other quality related to physique. Additionally, her physical attacks would carry basic traces of Celestial Energy, making them defense-piercing.
Meanwhile, the other two were an attack for when she fought with weapons, and an attack for when she fought barehanded or with gauntlets. She was not too satisfied, though. So, she spent another year perfecting her skills and devising a way to use them swiftly and defend herself.
By the end of her fourth year of Closed Door Cultivation, Yasenia managed to achieve what she wanted and developed a new arsenal of skills and trump cards, without getting rid of many that she had in the past.
For regular attacks, Yasenia had developed two basic skills: [Celestial Sunder] and [Celestial Aegis]. They were her simplest attacks, but nothing to scoff at. Both did what they were intended for with extreme efficiency.
The rest of her offensive skills were the following: [Celestial Dragon Breath], [Shattering The Heavens], [Firmament Dividing Celestial Twilight], [Soul Dividing Tyrannical Cleave], [Firmament Shaking Arc], and [Seven Cosmos Martial Smite].
Her powerful defensive skills were these: [Heavenly Firmament Sanctuary], [Orion Shield], and [Aquarius' Rain].
Meanwhile, her buff skills, while not as numerous as before, had not really become few. They were [Celestial Dragon Body], [Celestial Cosmos Dress], [Celestial Tyrant Soul Unshackled], [Firmament Soul Sword], [Immortal Breaker Body], [Ursa's Grasp], [Lyra's Harmony], [Empyrean Galaxy Domain], [Celestial Pearl], and one skill that she had worked hard to transform during the last year, [Day And Night Cycle].
Finally, her other skills were categorized into either movement or support skills: [Celestial Dragon Roar], [Pegasus Gallop], and the [Grand Cosmos Martial Art].
[Grand Cosmos Martial Art] was now a supporting skill because she could use it in conjunction with other skills. Of course, she was still practicing it and had yet to perfect it, but it was of some use.