By the time Yasenia approached the middle of the island, she had managed to collect a large mountain of herbs, minerals, and other treasures. Using just and fair methods when dividing loot, Yasenia took around seventy percent of what she found, leaving the rest for the sect.
Even then, thanks to her dragon nature, that thirty percent was much more abundant than the entire haul of many cultivators trying their best.
When Yasenia approached the center, she became cautious. The scent of the treasure was getting stronger, but simultaneously, her danger senses were starting to warn her of her surroundings.
"Hm… A 50,000-year-old Star River Rose… That's a peak-level Transcendence Realm treasure, and you can make powerful pills with it. But…" The gorgeous white rose proudly grew in the middle of a clearing inside the jungle. The white petals were opened, and a milky white liquid flowed from the petals, creating a small pool around it. This liquid glittered with lights and smelled heavenly. Yasenia knew, though, that this liquid was the stomach acid of the rose.
This rose's true form was below the pool. The beautiful white rose in the middle was nothing but bait, while powerful roots and sharp-toothed mouths hid in the liquid, ready to strike anyone who dared take a sip of it.
Of course, for the bait to be successful, the rose's liquid was damaging but with miraculous effects for the body. For a spiritual cultivator, the liquid was able to increase the bodily strength permanently, as long as they managed to resist the corrosiveness of the liquid.
"Is that the treasure I was sniffing out?" Yasenia took off the veil from her face and sniffed the air, her eyes closing as she sank deeply into her treasure-sensing receptors. In truth, the "treasure sensing" ability came from a dragon's ability to distinguish and pinpoint locations or items with a high concentration of natural heavenly energy.
After a few minutes of treasure sensing, Yasenia looked somewhat surprised. "It's not this rose. Is there something better on this island than the Star River Rose?" After thinking, she muttered. "I first need to collect this one. I can gather the other treasure later. I can't sense any other people nearby, after all."
The first obstacle when collecting the rose was the guardian beast. Almost all powerful treasures in nature had a guardian beast. Not because they came with one, but because of the benefits that the beast in charge of it got from it. In short, powerful herbs and trees grew beasts to protect them from predators, creating a symbiotic relationship.
How to hunt this beast without hurting the rose was the biggest headache. Or, at least, it would've been for a normal cultivator.
Yasenia strutted forward, relaxed and full of confidence. Yasenia reached into it when she came close to the white pool surrounding the knee-high rose. This triggered the spiritual herb to act.
Crystalline vines shot from the milky white water, latching around Yasenia's arms, ready to drag her into the pool. However, while it was almost a Supreme Level plant, its strength was only comparable to a Second Level Transcendence Realm cultivator.
So, Yasenia tensed her muscles and body, becoming an immovable rock. 'The guardian beasts don't appear from the beginning. Some allow others to approach so that the herb they are protecting can eat and grow stronger. Since the Star River Rose has a powerful offense, the Guardian Beast will naturally not act straight away.'
Looking at the transparent, crystalline vines around her left arm, Yasenia pulled toward herself. This was to show the rose that it had no chance of eating her. Once the rose noticed its predicament, it created a strange humming sound around it. The hum was low and almost impossible to catch through normal hearing.
Yasenia's ears were anything but normal, though. A faint frown appeared on her face. "Ugh. Such an annoying buzz. It's like having a bee flapping its wings right by my ear."
While complaining, she felt something sneaking up from behind her and lurching forward with incredible speed and precision. This creature's body was furry and white in color. Nevertheless, Yasenia could swear that there had not been such a beast nearby before it lunged. 'Camouflage? That's a surprise. I guess the strange danger sense I was feeling was due to this beast watching me all this time.'
The white panther, around three meters in height, swiped its claw at Yasenia.
"[Celestial Intent Domain]."
From the rose's perspective, Yasenia and the large cat suddenly disappeared. While it was a plant, its spiritual intelligence was slightly developed. After all, from transcendence onward, all living beings had a chance to develop spiritual intelligence.
It used its spiritual sense to look around, trying to sense them. Nevertheless, it found nothing. Even when it continued to strain its senses and try to sense something, there was not a single trace of the two creatures.
After a few minutes, strange fluctuations rippled 100 kilometers above it. The rose quickly looked up, only to feel as if the sunlight seemed to have disappeared.
Looking up, it saw a giant white panther falling from the sky. Its body was several times larger than before, reaching almost three kilometers in height and twelve in length if you took the tail into account.
Unlike before, the panther's body was riddled with giant gashes, and the neck barely connected to the rest of the body. Its powerful soul had already dissipated, leaving behind nothing but a husk.
The rose panicked, and hundreds of crystalline vines shot skyward with the intent of catching the body falling towards it. It would be a disaster if that giant body fell on top of itself. The rose's main body was extremely fragile, after all.
Still, while the panther was large, it didn't really explain why the sky had darkened so much. The panther was not that big, after all.
Right then, an ethereal and powerful voice spread all around.
"Relax, pretty flower."
A claw descended from the sky, large enough to comfortably catch the mountain-sized panther's body. Seeing the golden dragon claw grasping the enormous carcass, the rose was stunned.
When it looked beyond the giant panther, it realized what "giant" truly meant. It also understood why the Sun suddenly disappeared.
A gargantuan dragon that blotted out the entire sky was flapping its giant wings right above it. Its size was so large that even a mountain-sized panther looked like a newborn kitty in front of an adult beast.
After a flash of celestial light, both things disappeared, and Yasenia descended comfortably from the sky with a few superficial scratches on her body. Nothing that didn't heal in the few breaths that took her to land in front of the rose.
"Now," Yasenia, now in her human form, smiled at the rose. "Will you come into my spatial ring of your own volition, or do I have to uproot you by force?"
The rose showed meekness and even stretched a few vines towards Yasenia to pander to her. The dragoness chuckled. "Great choice. But first, let me bathe in your lake."
The dragoness took off all her clothes and gently lowered her naked body inside.
First, the white fluid slowly hid her fair feet, their perfect form and rounded toes quickly disappearing inside. The white liquid continued up, covering her rounded calves and then reaching her luscious thighs. Their curved shape and softness were heart-pounding, luring one to want to hug them.
As the liquid continued up, it reached Yasenia's special place, covering her imposing dragon and plump lower lips. The tingly sensation made Yasenia moan a sigh in comfort.
Not stopping for a second, Yasenia submerged her rounded and curvy butt. The white, supple roundness was ripe for grabbing them tightly and sinking your fingers inside. After a few moments, her generous behind was submerged together with the long, thick, and beautiful dragon tail.
As the water level reached her faintly protruding navel due to the pregnancy, Yasenia released another comfortable sigh. The sensation of her body getting nourished was truly phenomenal. 'I hope baby can also absorb a part of mommy's energy~.'
She continued with a smile etched on her lips as her most prominent curves sank into the milky waters. Her breasts parted the liquid with a soft ripple, their full weight and roundness rising proudly above the surface. At their peaks, the blossom-pink tips crowned them like delicate petals, accentuating both their perfection and perkiness.
Finally, after passing her beautiful collarbone and slender neck, Yasenia submerged her face and long, floating hair into the acidic liquid.
The rose was confused. Why would this powerful creature become its food willingly? Nevertheless, since it was now in what was essentially its belly, the rose used its energy to increase the acidity of the white fluid to its maximum potency. A normal Transcendence Realm cultivator wouldn't even last a few seconds inside the pool of white water.
Yasenia showed no signs of discomfort, though. On the contrary, her face was even more pleasant than before. Closing her eyes and entering a meditative state, Yasenia began cultivating and absorbing the potent medicinal effects of the rose.
Why could Yasenia resist this powerful substance? The reason was simple, really. Yasenia's body cultivation technique, [Celestial Cosmos Immortal Body Technique], had the [Celestial Cosmos Body Refinement] skill.
This was the skill that allowed Yasenia to take those medicinal baths to refine her physical body, soul, and even her energy. Those baths were one of the most influential reasons for the unreasonable bodily strength and physique of our dragoness.
Having been refined by them, her ability to withstand this type of plant-based digestive substance was top-notch.
In summary, thanks to the refinement, Yasenia's flesh, bones, and organs were ridiculously tough to digest. In contrast, once digested, it would probably be one of the most nutritious supplements one could take at the same level.
A dragon's body was a treasure, and Yasenia followed that mantra and then elevated it to new heights. If people knew how truly valuable Yasenia's body was, she would be unable to live in peace ever again.
While the rose confusedly looked at the dragon woman peacefully cultivating inside its digestive fluids, it noticed a relatively weak Sixth Realm beast approaching. Not convinced, it threw its vines to wrap around that beast and dragged it into its fluids.
The beast thrashed around, but it didn't even have an Intent Domain. Therefore, it fell inside without a single chance of resistance.
"GRAAAHH!!"
The beast writhed crazily as its body instantly began decomposing. It didn't take longer than five seconds before its struggles weakened, and it died soon after being consumed by the max-potency fluids of the rose.
The rose was not happy, though. It was horrified.
Looking at the clearly comfortable dragon woman enjoying its digestive fluids as if they were bathwater, the rose wanted to cry and ask for forgiveness. It swore to never go against this stupidly powerful dragon in its entire life!
Yasenia kept cultivating for an entire month before she opened her eyes and felt no more improvement. 'Wow… Truly nutritious. This cultivation session felt like 2 years of straight cultivation. How long has it been?'
After surfacing and putting on her purple-gold dress, Yasenia took out something that counted the days. "Thirty-three days! I made the same progress in two years in just a month. That's great."
If before Yasenia was at around 70% of the first level in all her paths, now she was nearing 85%. "I will store you now, Star River Rose."
The rose didn't even say a peep and allowed Yasenia to store it away. With a wave of our dragoness's hand, the entire lake around the rose and its underground roots disappeared, leaving behind a large void.
"This rose will probably be useless after a while… Should I leave it in the Star Immortal Sect? If they use it correctly, it can lay the foundation for powerful generations of cultivators…"
These types of treasures were the ones that sects were looking for in the secret realm. Now, whether Yasenia would give it to them or not was another matter altogether. After all, she could use it for low-level cultivators in a future power she created.
"Hm… I'll think about it later. For now, let's help it grow further inside my Five Realm Spatial Ring."
Yasenia, feeling refreshed from having gained some more strength, took a deep breath before following her nose to find the next treasure.