To her surprise, the three spatial rings had a lot of interesting treasures. The one from the alchemy woman was a lucky stroke, since there were three one-million-year-old plants. "Four of them in total… It should be enough to get some practice before I start with the real deal. After all, I don't really need to use them in their entirety if it is to practice."
Doubtful, Sui Xing asked her. "Are you sure four are enough? It would be quite a hassle if you needed to return because you ran out of materials, right?"
The dragoness blinked. "I mean, while I understand that spiritual herbs aged to this degree need some special processes, it shouldn't be a problem. In alchemy, I am most confident in the preparation. What I lack is ingenuity and control over the concocting process. Otherwise, in the preparation phase, I am no worse than my Honey!"
Those words were said proudly, since Yasenia held her lovers in exceptionally high regard when it came to professional practices.
Sui Xing was confused. "Why are you so good at preparation?"
"Simple." Yasenia smiled. "It is the part of the process I've practiced the most. After all, my thoughts were to become a great assistant for my lovers, not to become an independent crafter. All I know of the concocting process was learned mainly because, to help them, I had to delve into processing some of them."
Sui Xing admired Yasenia. There weren't many people who were this sincere with their partners. He honestly was curious about these mysterious lovers who came out of Yasenia's mouth at any opportunity she got to speak of them.
Focusing on what she needed to do, Yasenia approached the territory of the [Star Soul Chrysanthemum]. She didn't know anything about it, so there was a need to be cautious.
The closer she got, the more the surroundings pressed on her soul. 'Hm…' The dragoness frowned, looking around as she kept up her soul defenses. 'A plant that can attack souls will be a pain to deal with. Still, its focus on the soul means that its body should be quite weak. As long as I can approach, I can deal with it cleanly.'
"Ah."
Yasenia blinked and stopped walking, jumping up to a tree branch and hiding her presence.
"What's wrong?"
Sui Xing's question was answered by Yasenia taking out the spatial ring of the alchemist woman. Then, her spiritual sense pierced into it easily after destroying the defensive formation with her Formation Shattering Bead. "You should have one… There must be one… Where is it?"
As Yasenia muttered and shifted through the mountains of items inside the ring, her lips arched, and she exclaimed. "Found it!"
Sui Xing and the other treasures saw a book appear in Yasenia's hands. It was thick, and the letters on the cover read as such: [Myriad Immortal Alchemy Encyclopedia].
They instantly knew why Yasenia paused and smiled. "Right, that woman must have something about it."
"Yeah, it would be strange if an alchemist at her level didn't have books about plants of this level."
The dragoness shifted through the pages with thick and dense writing. Her golden slit eyes took in everything quickly, and in just four minutes, she found what she wanted.
"Here it is, the page of the Star Soul Chrysanthemum. Let's see…" Yasenia scanned it and muttered. "A plant mutation that happens under certain conditions… The spiritual herb can only become one after it feeds on… Hm… Ah, here it is."
The dragoness looked at that text and read it slowly. "The Star Soul Chrysanthemum can afflict those who are near it with Soul Poison through its pollen. Moreover, it is able to harm souls with the thorns of its vines directly. The most dangerous part is that if you fall into its illusions, you will die by having your soul energy sucked out."
The dragoness smiled. "Great. It is annoying but far from impossible to deal with. If anything, I have confidence in my soul strength and defense."
So, without hesitating anymore, Yasenia jumped from the branch and quickly approached the Star Soul Chrysanthemum's domain.
It was around ten minutes later that her soul suddenly tingled, causing her eyebrows to twitch. Carefully, she observed the area with sparse flora and tried to spot the flower. "I can't sense it. My Spiritual Sense gets stuck on the pollen flying in the air…"
Thankfully, the pollen was too weak to pierce her soul defenses. So, with the major danger avoided, it was a matter of time.
"Still…" As Yasenia journeyed through the Star Soul Chrysanthemum's domain, she noticed corpses here and there. There were even some half-living people who stared dazedly at the front. She couldn't help but thank her soul resistance. "... This flower is probably the scariest I've found yet. This area feels like an apocalyptic illusion realm."
The greyish colors, wandering people, and strewn corpses being chewed slowly by the roots were things out of a nightmare.
"Where is it?" Yasenia stopped wandering aimlessly and frowned, looking around her. As she stopped, she noticed a strange fluctuation in the air. "Hm? The surroundings are changing?"
Confused about this phenomenon, Yasenia was tempted to keep looking. As she observed her surroundings slowly change, her mind suddenly jolted, and her eyes widened. "Oh dear, I am falling into an illusion!"
Using all her soul strength, Yasenia burst out a powerful aura.
BOOM!
The surroundings shattered, sending her back towards the grey and desolate location.
"Yasenia? Are you okay?"
Soluna's anxious voice reached her, and Yasenia frowned. "How long did I space out?"
A sigh of relief escaped Soluna. "Not that long. It was only two hours."
"Only…?" Yasenia was honestly somewhat scared. She had felt as if she were inside that strange space for less than a minute! Patting her cheeks, Yasenia's face gained a touch of seriousness. "I can't underestimate the spiritual herbs. Alright, let's find it quickly."
Sui Xing spoke before Yasenia wandered aimlessly again. "Yasenia, this is a good chance to increase your soul acuity. How about instead of searching, you sit cross-legged and try to find the Star Soul Chrysanthemum that way? If you are able to do it, your soul control will probably reach the next level."
Those words resonated with Yasenia. Still, she was torn. "I'd love to, but… I am in a bit of a time crunch, Sui Xing."
Seeing Yasenia smile sadly, Sui Xing smiled and encouraged her. "You need more than one, right? I think that, if you manage to find the first one with this method, you will be able to pick the others like picking up mortal flowers in a garden."
Soluna supported his words. "He has a point, Yasenia. I think that it won't hurt you to do as he says."
Their reasoning was sound. Moreover, it has been a while since she actually fell into the illusion of an enemy. This spoke volumes about how strong the Star Soul Chrysanthemum's Soul Power was. So, after taking a deep breath, Yasenia nodded and sat cross-legged on the spot.
Looking around, she muttered. "Either way, this entire domain is the same. Plus, since I was affected here, it means that the soul power is stronger than in the other locations. That's a hint about the Star Soul Chrysanthemum's proximity."
Yasenia crossed her legs, curling her tail around her. Then, after creating a layer of protective energy below her sitting place, she closed her eyes and calmed her breathing.
"First, I need to spread my spiritual sense."
As a ripple expanded from her sitting position, Yasenia's senses captured everything in a 500-meter radius. Compared to her usual reach, this was nothing.
"Now, feel the reason for the Spiritual Sense's lack of effective range. What makes it slow down? What makes my Spiritual Sense weak?"
Yasenia's breathing was even, and her energy slowly rotated around her body. Her soul, powerfully beating at the rhythm of her heart, sent constant ripples out and tried to push against the layer of Soul Pollen around her.
Two weeks passed quickly, but Yasenia's efforts only allowed her Spiritual Sense to expand from 500 meters to 3000. Yasenia, who would usually be able to search areas of hundreds or even thousands of kilometers with a single sweep of her senses, felt that her progress was still too slow.
"...It's not about the strength of the Spiritual Sense, is it?" Yasenia looked deeply, as closely as possible to the edge between her Spiritual Sense. "It's not about forcefully opening a passage that allows me in. I must… fuse it and camouflage it."
The next energy ripple Yasenia extended got stuck at just 10 meters around her. It was incomparable to her best attempt. This change confused Soluna, but it made Sui Xing smile.
After the spiritual sense spread 10 meters, Yasenia noticed that the pollen particles were fighting off her soul like an enemy. 'Harmonize and change the aura.'
A single thread of energy touched the pollen particle, but it was instantly obliterated, giving Yasenia a headache. 'Again.'
Try after try, strand after strand, Yasenia's spiritual sense entered a cycle of creation and destruction. Yet, it was not all for naught.
Each time Yasenia's Spiritual Strand touched a pollen particle, the pollen would take a longer amount of time to direct its hostility toward her.
'Again.'
This time, something different occurred. The spiritual strand touched the pollen particle, and instead of reacting, the pollen particle silently drifted past it. A smile tugged at the corner of Yasenia's lips.
'Now… Two strands.'
And two were maintained.
'Four…'
'Sixteen…'
'A hundred…'
'An area…'
'A circle…'
'And finally… A sphere.'
At that moment, Yasenia's Spiritual Sense rippled outward like a water wave on top of a calm ocean.
100 meters… 1,000 meters… 10 kilometers… 100 kilometers…
As Yasenia's eyes slowly opened, they flashed with profound light. Unlike before, there was a sense of mystery behind her eyes, as if she could pierce the souls of others with just a single glance.
The dragoness stood up, pushing her body up with her tail, and smiled. "Found it."
"Congratulations." Sui Xing chuckled. "You have reached a new level of soul manipulation. While they are nameless, you can consider the change as follows. Before, your spiritual sense was like a blunt sword piercing through the surroundings. Now, it is finally sharpened."
"It really feels like that." Yasenia laughed as she unhesitatingly ran towards her target.
Soluna exclaimed, quite happy. "To think you only took four months! That's great!"
The dragoness almost tripped and fell. "Four months!?"
Sui Xing chuckled. "Don't put on a face as if the world is about to collapse. It is ridiculously fast to learn what you did in such a short amount of time. It usually takes over a century for geniuses at your level to learn it."
"...A century? How? I admit it was difficult, but a century feels like too much."
Sui Xing explained. "Actually, it is because they don't usually use dangerous locations such as this one. A genius at your cultivation level would probably take around six to ten years if they practiced here. Not many would be willing, though. After all, it only takes falling into the Star Soul Chrysanthemum's illusion once to forfeit your life."
Yasenia laughed awkwardly. "It's still over twenty times the time, even at your shortest estimate."
Sui Xing chuckled. "Are you surprised, Miss Transcendental Cultivator, at just a century old?"
Yasenia coughed and changed the subject. "Ah, here it is."
Looking over curiously, the treasures became speechless. Soluna muttered. "...So tiny."
Yasenia's lips twitched a little as well. The Star Soul Chrysanthemum was a flower as tall as a finger. "...If I had tried to find it by force, I might've never found it before the Secret Realm closes."
Yasenia crouched down, hardening her hands with her dragon scales, and then gently and carefully dug it out. "And… Got it."
As soon as the Star Soul Chrysanthemum disappeared into her spatial ring, the constant soul pressure weighing on her dissipated like morning mist. "Wah…" Yasenia stretched. "So comfortable, I feel as if a weight was relieved off my shoulders."
Dramel giggled. "Even then, your shoulders should still feel heavy. After all, you have two large, ripe melons hanging on them."
Yasenia's tail twitched once.