Guo Yantao felt boundless pressure surrounding his body, tensing his muscles. When he wanted to resist, it was already too late. Something pulled on him, and his sight flickered for a second.
When he recovered his vision, his spiritual sense expanded outward violently, covering thousands of kilometers around him. What he saw with his eyes and his spiritual sense left him baffled.
"I am… in space?"
A vast cosmos expanded around him, stars, planets, nebulae, and galaxies flickering in the distance. The space was not pure black, though. Instead, a faintly purple gleam shimmered in his view, as if he were submerged in a primordial soup of matter.
"Not exactly. Although you are not entirely incorrect."
It was a breathtaking view that he would have enjoyed if he had not spotted the person standing in front of him. The alluring voice that half-confirmed his thoughts made him doubt. "Is this an illusion? If you think you can shake my mind with visions, you are sorely underestimating me."
Yasenia smiled, her eyes curving above the black veil that covered half her face. "Illusions… I am too brutish to use such sophisticated methods. I prefer to overwhelm my enemies with absolute raw strength."
The man was wary, and his aura flickered. "[Charm Paradise Intent Domain… Level 3]!"
A pinkish golden aura stretched the space around him, briefly distorting space. However, before he got liberated, Yasenia raised her hand, and the pressure doubled around him. The pinkish golden aura that had taken terrain was forcefully stopped and started shrinking once more.
"I see." The demon smiled. "I understand. This is your Intent Domain. It's not space, but a zone you can summon and control through your understanding of a concept. Looking around, you must've comprehended a profound intent like galaxy, cosmos, outer space, or something similar. Am I right?"
Yasenia was not flustered; her eyes remained calm, and she waved her hand once more. The golden-pinkish domain around the demon was suddenly assaulted by a reddish-black domain.
A flash of surprise appeared in Yantao's serpentine eyes. "Oh? A second Intent Domain. But… They are not combined. Individual domains that support each other…" Looking at Yasenia, he smiled faintly. "I must say, you are exceptional in other ways besides your beauty. I thought it would be too troublesome to make someone like you submit, but if you are this talented, the hassle is worth the reward."
Yasenia's calmness didn't falter. The other side was probably a high-level demon with a Level 4 or 5 Intent Domain outside the Secret Realm. If each of them had their original strengths, Yasenia would flee at the sight of him. She might be able to face him using all her trump cards, but the risks were just too many.
Nevertheless, inside here, he was restrained. Their cultivation realms were identical. So, for others to have a chance to defeat her, they must have a higher-level Intent Domain.
But Yasenia had made a breakthrough. Her Tyrant Warlord Intent Domain was at the peak of the second level, and her Celestial Intent Domain was able to fight further developed Intents thanks to the profundity of the "celestial" concept.
"Demon. You and that other demon have been an eyesore since the first time I saw you. Now, it's time for me to defeat you." Draheart appeared in her hand in its giant broadsword form. Its scaly surface and shining double edge perfectly outlined her. Meanwhile, the giant red core at the bottom part of the guard pulsed like a real heart, exuding intense pressure.
The weapon in Yantao's hand trembled for a second. Surprise and caution flashed in Yantao's eyes when he looked at Draheart. "That sword… What kind of ancient artifact is that?"
Yasenia grabbed the giant sword and pierced forward like a spear. "[Star Pierce]."
A white line instantly crossed the distance between Yasenia and Yantao, piercing into his chest. Yantao realized and noticed that the white line was not damaging, but more like a locking mechanism.
A fraction of a second later, Draheart's red core shifted to pure white, and energy bloomed from the tip.
White light.
The dark, purplish space, illuminated by countless celestial bodies, was washed in white light. It crossed the distance between them at a speed that felt unavoidable, forcing Yantao to release a defensive skill. "[Dark Mantle]."
Waving his own sword, Yantao created a wall darker than a moonless night. The wall, however, was no match for the piercing white light.
BOOM!!
Seeing the dark wall pierced and shattered, the calm face of the demon crumpled as he quickly expanded his Intent Domain to defend himself. Dreamy terrains like floating islands, gorgeous mountains, and other landscapes stood between him and the white beam.
The terrains were destroyed for a bit until the strength behind [Star Pierce] completely disappeared. Yantao's Intent Domain was not only a mind-influencing domain. Since it had the concept of a "paradise" in it, he was able to manipulate energy to create gorgeous pieces of terrain, delicacies, and other related concepts.
It was by no means a weak Intent Domain, since, once you fell in it, most actions would end up exacerbating your situation.
Yasenia shifted her stance, and Draheart changed forms. The edge slowly thinned, the length reducing and transforming into a rapier. Then, her energy surged around her, and she began a barrage of attacks. "[Star Pierce Barrage]."
Altering a small part of the activation sequence, Yasenia lowered the strength for a bit in order to be able to spam the skill at will. The second she did so, her body moved like a well-oiled machine as white beams of light pierced the Celestial Intent Domain space one after another.
Yantao would not stay still, rushing towards Yasenia as fast as he could. Nevertheless, under the rain-like barrage of powerful beams of starlight, he was quickly restrained and kept at a distance. "Annoying!"
His energy surged and moved, activating [Dark Mantle] and his Intent Domain as much as he could to defend himself. Yasenia's reddish, golden-slit eyes followed his movements with ease, quickly evaluating the other party's strength and ability to dodge.
'He is fast, and his body is stronger than the average Sixth Realm cultivator thanks to his demonic blood. However, he is clearly not accustomed to battle. It's expected that, as a Demon of charm, frontal battles are naturally not his forte.'
As she moved around and kept an appropriate distance, her draconic eyes pierced through all truths as her mind analyzed everything with incredible precision and efficiency. 'His domain is dangerous; if I fall into it, I will be in trouble. However, it's not impossible to resist. That's a weakness I can exploit.'
"[Fractured Crystal Shift]!"
The demon's energy changed, and Yasenia was surprised to discover that this demon had Glass Attributed Affinity. The skill made the surroundings fracture like glass, and Yantao disappeared into one of the cracks.
Yasenia quickly sharpened her senses, and her pupils thinned into vertical lines. Her world slowed down, and she quickly stepped to the side, turning her shoulder inwards as her tail lashed upward. '[Scorching Sword: Tail Slash].'
Yantao appeared behind Yasenia, slashing his sword at her back. However, the sword missed, the tip missing Yasenia's back by so little that her dress fluttered at the sword's wake. The twisted smile on Yantao's face faded as danger and heat hit him head-on.
Looking down, Yasenia's tail was ascending, covered in golden flames so concentrated that they could vaporize anything in its way. 'She can use skills with her tail!?'
The absurdity of the situation barely had time to register in his mind before he changed his slashing motion to a defensive stance. However, the defense was flimsy.
BANG!
Yantao's wrists hurt as his body was blasted upward together with a golden explosion. The burns around his body were enough to tell that he suffered from the precise, swift, and almost future-predicting counterattack.
Yasenia didn't stop there, pushing against the void and shooting up like an ascending meteor.
"You stupid dragon! [Fractured Crystal Shift]!"
Using his movement technique, the man was sucked into one of the fractures and moved far away from Yasenia. The dragoness's eyes followed, shining with incredible lethality. Then, her posture changed as Draheart shifted into a bow.
Her fingers grabbed the air, but where nothing was, a golden, flaming thread appeared, connecting the edges of the bow. Her back muscles perfectly moved backward, their alluring form visible from behind. When she pulled the string into a full moon, two arrows, each with the properties of the stars or the moon, manifested. "[Moon Ice Torment], [Star Pierce]."
Feeling a dangerous presence in the distance, Yantao reacted and deployed [Dark Mantle] once more, the islands of his paradise appearing behind the mantle.
However, in an arrow form, [Star Pierce]'s penetration power was enhanced.
CRASH!
The first arrow exploded the dark mantle and several islands, stopping not too far away from the demon. However, before Yantao rejoiced, he noticed a second arrow following right behind [Star Pierce]. His facial expression changed, and he quickly moved his energy to protect himself as much as he could. He had no time for skills.
BOOM!!!
[Moon Ice Torment] exploded outward, covering thousands of kilometers in silver frost and creating a blizzard.
Yasenia was not done, though. She noticed how the man's Intent Domain faltered for a second after being hit. "[Celestial Intent Domain]!"
The Celestial Black Hole Star Energy Core spun, pouring Celestial Energy into the star that represented [Celestial Intent Domain]. The beautiful, glittering blue star shone brilliantly, and then, the cosmos fell under Yasenia's domain.
Yantao felt a chill rush down his spine and looked around. "What's wrong!?"
His surroundings had changed; thousands of stars, worlds, and moons were streaking the void, falling towards him at incredible speed. It felt as if the entire cosmos around him was collapsing.
"You—!" Yantao wanted to speak, but he was clearly cornered and needed to focus on the threat around him. He had no time to deal with Yasenia in the distance.
From far away, Yasenia poured energy and saw as the giant celestial bodies collided into a massive ball of fire. Planets crumbled, moons shattered, and stars exploded. Magma hotter than the core of a star engulfed Yantao, making his life and death unknown.
Yasenia looked at the aftermath indifferently. While the attack was strong, strong enough to instantly kill most Level One Transcendence Realm cultivators, she didn't believe that the demon would fall so easily.
"Got you. [Charm Paradise Intent Domain]!"
A voice came from behind, and soon, Yasenia was engulfed in the Level 3 Intent Domain. Looking behind her, Yantao was in a very sorry state. Half of his body was charred, while the rest was bloodied and with different degrees of abrasions, lesions, and injuries. She could easily tell that some of his bones were cracked, while the snake-tail behind him was lying limply, clearly too damaged to move.
Even in that state, his lips were arched in a wicked grin.
The reason was easy to tell: when the Intent Domain enveloped Yasenia, the energy of the domain managed to pierce through and enter Yasenia's body. Her eyes glazed over, and the overwhelming aura around her disappeared.
The demon laughed and reached forward, wanting to tear Yasenia's veil off. "Now, the only person you'll see is—"
Stab.
"—me…?"
His hand stopped, unable to reach Yaseia's veil. Then, pain came from his already damaged stomach. When he looked down with confusion, he saw Yasenia's tail deeply lodged in his dantian area. Around the tail, golden flames blazed, slowly spreading outward while consuming his flesh.
"H-How—"
Looking up, he noticed that the dazed eyes of the dragon woman had returned to normal. Now, she was looking down at him with disgusted and indifferent eyes. "A mere demon wants to charm me? Learn your place when you go to the Underworld. [Scorching Sword: Tail Blaze]."
Golden flames exploded outward and engulfed his entire body.
"AHHHHHH!!"