In the distance, the army's general was observing the battlefield with a stoic expression. His body was over two meters tall, with a build that was bursting with muscles. If one were to think of a handsome and muscular general, this person's face and body would come to mind. If anything, his long black hair tied in a low-hanging ponytail was the only thing different from that stereotype.
His body was covered in thick black armor, and in his hand, he held a two-and-a-half-meter-long halberd with a giant axe head.
As Yasenia sliced through the army in his direction, his eyes gained a touch of ridicule. 'This trial is for you to kill as many ants as you can. Do you think that you can face me?'
While observing the dragon woman, he saw her jump upward while tightly holding the giant two-handed great sword. Celestial energies swirled around her figure as she rushed down.
Yasenia, unaware that the general had his own consciousness, descended like a meteor, intending to burst open the earth. "[Grand Cosmos Martial Art, Third Form: Comet Descent]."
Boundless energy gathered in her body as Yasenia activated her martial technique. Then, her descending speed accelerated, leaving a blue trail of pure energy in her wake.
Using all her strength, Yasenia swung her greatsword, intending to crush the first-level Transcendence Realm cultivator.
However, what she saw next cracked her aloofness.
CLANG!
BOOM!!
The man standing on a hill swung his halberd and collided head-on with Yasenia. The collision created a ridiculously giant shockwave that killed tens of thousands around him. Nevertheless, other than that, the man stood still.
"Ho~?" Yasenia's flattened lips arched in a faint grin as her eyes shone with battle intent.
The man opened his mouth, a deep and authoritative tone reverberating around. "First warning. You are meant to kill as many ants as possible. Even if defeating me will give you extra rewards, I will tell you now that your current strength is lacking."
Yasenia flapped her wings, flying backward with a grin. "Is it? How about now, then? [Celestial Cosmos Dress]!"
A burst of light surrounded Yasenia, her purple-gold dress changing into an ethereal white dress. The dress's long skirt, wide sleeves, and body-hugging nature accentuated Yasenia's curvy body. Its details, like the sun and moon on her skirt and the silver and golden dragons on her sleeves, added to the beauty of the cloth. Yasenia looked like a pure goddess that descended from above, surrounded by tyrannical energies to punish those who were blasphemous towards her.
Naturally, other than changes to her looks, her strength increased several times over.
"[Celestial Sunder]."
Charging forward again, her sword exploded in radiance and carried enough strength to divide a world. "Draheart!"
HOWL!
The sword cry reverberated as Draheart's sharpness increased to its maximum, the total length reaching over two meters. In terms of size, it was only slightly shorter than the halberd.
The general kept an indifferent face and retaliated. "[Golden Lion Strike]."
BOOM!!!
The man's face crumbled slightly as his body was pushed down from the hill, landing on the floor below with grace. Looking up, he squinted. "Still lacking. You've only killed 245,409 people. The others are already in the millions. Are you sure you want to waste your time with me?"
Yasenia snorted and landed. "Annoying. You are strong, so I want to fight you. Nevertheless, since you are so worried, I'll deal with them for a second. Just don't get tangled in my attack."
The general was about to mock Yasenia when her aura changed, and energy began siphoning toward her like a hurricane. The concentration was so dense that the usual energy's transparent nature disappeared, and crystalline mist surrounded her.
"[Empyrean Cosmos Dragon Transformation]!"
Her body was grey, and soon, she became a nearly three-meter-tall dragon. Her current form was perfect to carry a dragon knight on her back. In truth, Yasenia condensed her dragon form for this reason. Since Andrea's inheritance was a Dragon Rider inheritance, she changed her body to suit her darling mounting her.
Sadly, they separated before Yasenia was able to have Andrea mount her… in the sense of going to battle. Otherwise, Andrea mounted Yasenia almost daily, heh.
"Dragon?" The general looked interested. "Although… her size is truly pitiful. Is she a hatchling of a powerful bloodline?" While thinking that, he also noticed that the energy gathering toward her had not stopped pouring in; instead, it accelerated.
Confused, the man looked at the gorgeous dragon and saw Yasenia taking in a deep breath. His face changed, and he quickly flew up. If there was one thing that you could not underestimate, it was a dragon's Dragon Breath.
Meanwhile, Yasenia's body surged with energy, and soon, she leaned forward and opened her maw.
"[Celestial Dragon Breath]."
ROAR!
A concentrated celestial beam over 100 meters in width exploded forward. The recoil pushed Yasenia back a few centimeters, her golden claws leaving trails on the tough ground below. The beam's energy surged forward, annihilating countless people in a single line.
Nevertheless, she didn't stop there. Using her tensed muscles to rotate slowly, Yasenia flattened the entire battlefield in a circular motion.
As the beam continuously poured out, it started damaging her tongue and fangs, but Yasenia continued pouring out energy until she completed the circling motion.
Once she stopped, the general looked on speechless as everything around Yasenia had disappeared. Then, he looked at the score, and he almost choked.
The other seven people were all within the range of 1 to 12 million people. It showed the ease with which a cultivator of their level could kill peak-level mortal cultivators.
However, that single attack Yasenia used had skyrocketed Yasenia's score not to 10 million, not to 100 million, and not to 1 billion.
Yasenia observed her score and then urged her regeneration to heal her mouth. "Now, my score is 9.6 billion. Can we fight?"
The general swept the area with his spiritual sense and noticed that there was no one in a radius of over 100 kilometers around them. You must understand that each peak-level mortal cultivator was able to absorb the damage that would be used to destroy a large mountain range. Some could even absorb continental-level damage!
With very rough math, Yasenia's dragon breath would've been powerful enough to annihilate more than 10 rocky worlds if they were placed in a straight line!
The general landed in front of Yasenia with a curious look. "Compared to your previous two attacks, this one is much stronger. However, don't think that I will allow you to hit me with it. If this is your only weapon at this level, you should give up."
Yasenia looked at him, confused. "You… Why are you so chatty? You look so stoic, but are you secretly a gossiper?"
The man almost choked again.
"You know, my mate is similar. Everyone confuses her with an indifferent and aloof person, but she is always chatting with me. She is so cute that I want to eat her whole each time and melt that cold facade away!"
"Enough. Let's fight then."
Yasenia's eyes glittered. Grinding her own combat abilities against powerful people was her preferred way of getting stronger. After all, what better way to improve than getting your ass beat?
With that in mind, Yasenia transformed back into her humanoid form and charged at the general.
Meanwhile, on the other battlefields, the fighting Transcendence Realm cultivators were having very colorful reactions.
"W-What did that woman do!?" The female Charm Snake Demon had been quite disgruntled with Yasenia. When they first entered the room, she almost lost control over the five men she was subtly controlling!
Yasenia's appearance was so impactful that they almost broke away from her charm spell. That was a slap on the face for the Charm Snake Demon. After all, Yasenia didn't even try.
So, she was quite happy when she saw the woman's score stay at 0 in the beginning. While her numbers started soaring after a while, her killing spree stopped once more after another short while.
In her mind, she wanted to convince herself that the surge in kills was because Yasenia used some powerful skill and then became tired.
It was then that something extraordinary happened. While checking the number of kills, the dragon woman's score suddenly started skyrocketing at a nonsensical speed!
It reached 10 million in the first instant, and then, it soared to 100 million after just half a second. Two seconds later, the number 9,655,640,001 appeared in front of her eyes, almost blinding her.
The Charm Snake Demon didn't know if she could kill all those before the trial ended, and now the other person killed them in just a few seconds!
"S-She cheated! Hey, trial-maker! She is cheating! There is no way something like this is possible with just Level One Transcendence Strength!"
But she received no answer. This infuriated her so much that her face had twisted to the point of distorting her beautiful appearance. "This dragon! I'll make sure to make her my plaything later! How dare she be better than me!"
Meanwhile, Yasenia was having the time of her life. The general was a true powerhouse. Even when they were both at the same level, Yasenia was having some trouble facing him.
Of course, Yasenia refrained from using all her berserk skills and [Celestial Intent Domain]. Nevertheless, it was extremely fun for her.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Their bodies flashed around the place, creating shockwaves that rippled outward like explosions each time they collided. "Who would've thought that you'd have the [War Intent Domain]? You are quite the monster, no? Were you very talented when you were alive?"
Yasenia's sword sneaked past the man's halberd, landing a powerful blow to his side and blasting him into the distance. Meanwhile, the general was about to start complaining. "Who here is the monster!? You have an Intent Domain combination of War and something else! How did you even combine an Intent Domain as complex and profound as War!? It took me 300 years to transform my War Intent into a Domain, and I was called a super genius…"
Yasenia appeared behind him, punching him in the back instead of using the weapon. Her eyebrows were slightly tightened. "Hey, why are you distracted? I have yet to see more things from you. Do you know how hard it is to find someone with a Level 2 War Intent Domain?"
The man fought back and sighed, speaking among the barrage of attacks from the dragon woman. "You are holding back, aren't you? Honestly, I can't exert much more strength than I am currently using."
Yasenia didn't stop her attacks, looking at him with a disappointed expression. "Really? I've only used [Immortal Breaker Body], [Celestial Dress], and [Celestial Dragon Body]..."
"...Only?" The man's eyebrow twitched. 'Her body is currently so tough that I don't think I can cut her even if I land a hit. Yet, she is not going all out? Heavens, I think that the Battle Formation will finally find an owner.'
Thinking like that, the man commented. "Dragon, stop fighting for a moment."
Yasenia stopped, confused, and the general stood a few meters away. His armor was riddled with cuts, dents, and broken parts. Clearly, Yasenia's attacks were brutal enough to push him to the limit.
"What's wrong?" Yasenia frowned, her body almost pristine compared to the start. She had a cut here and there, but it only sliced her skin, not reaching her muscle. With her regeneration, the cuts would go away in a few seconds.
The man commented. "In this trial, most of the score you'll earn happens during the first few days. By the end, the scores will stagnate because the soldiers will start using the [Immortal Big Dipper Battle Formation]."
"Oh…" Yasenia blinked and asked. "Are they stronger than you by then?"
"No." The man's lips twitched. "I am supposed to be the arbiter of the first trial. Beating me is already ridiculous. After all, I can fight Level 3 Transcendence Realm cultivators with ease."
Yasenia blinked. "Then… What are you insinuating?"
"Unless you are killed outside of the trial, you will be the one obtaining the Battle Formation. Therefore, how about I tell the army to start using it already and give you an idea of what it can do? I can also tell you about the other trials if you want."
Hearing this general's words, Yasenia showed interest. After pondering for a while, she asked. "Will there be extra rewards for defeating you if I accept the deal?"
"Ahem." The general cleared his throat. "I've already registered my defeat. So, yes."
Hearing that she would receive the goodies, Yasenia smiled with satisfaction. "Alright, I accept! I am curious as well about what a Battle Formation can do. I can also increase my score."