The group of people felt flustered. Ao Jiuyao, who was about to sprint into chase, was stopped by Astarea. "Jiuyao! Don't chase! While the number of Spider Lilies has decreased, the number of Ruby Spiders has gone nowhere! All of them have fallen under the last Spider Lily's control and are attacking us fiercely!"
The dragon man bit his lip with his fang, his wine-colored eyes looking complicated. As he hesitated, he heard Lataria's painful scream and turned back to see one of the spiders latching onto one of her wings.
He muttered a few curses and then turned around, returning to help the group.
Seeing his ferocious appearance, Astarea spoke lightly. "Don't be so angered. The other side left behind one Star Soul Chrysanthemum. So, in a way, we've made a trade of two Spider Lilies for a Spider Lily and a Soul Chrysanthemum. We didn't lose out since we've gained variety."
Ao Jiuyao was not convinced, but he could only chew his lips in anger as he unleashed his dragon strength and beat up the spiders as fast as he could. 'If I ever catch who did this, I swear that I will make you cough up half your treasures!'
Meanwhile, the little thief was returning through the path toward the central area. Soluna giggled. "You now have three Star Soul Chrysanthemums and two Star Spirit Spider Lilies. That's great!"
Yasenia grumbled lightly. "I could've had four Star Soul Chrysanthemum and three Star Spirit Spider Lilies."
The treasures were speechless at the greedy grumbling of the Dragon. While they were hesitating about whether to console their upset, greedy dragoness or not, they saw her stop and stiffen.
Confused, the treasures followed Yasenia's Spiritual Sense and noticed a group of people in the central area! "...When did they come?"
Yasenia frowned and sighed. "I guess that asking for no one ever to find the path during all these years was too much. Even if you stumbled around, you would eventually encounter it once or twice."
While she was waiting, she heard someone in the group speak aloud. "We need to gather the [Star Arm Rose] and [Star Leg Orchid]. You four go gather it."
"Got it."
Yasenia saw four people rush down the path, and her thoughts began spinning rapidly. 'What do I do? There are fourteen cultivators inside, but they don't appear to be of the same group.'
That was a blessing in disguise. If they were all from the same group, Yasenia would've needed to fight her way inside. However, now that these four people of different powers were left to gather the herbs for the first concoction, Yasenia could maneuver the situation without fighting.
After thinking for a little while, she nodded to herself and continued along with a confident stride.
The four people who left naturally noticed Yasenia and frowned deeply. "You there! Stop!"
The dragoness stopped and tilted her head. "What's wrong?"
The man who spoke first opened his mouth again. "Turn around. You have no business going any deeper."
Yasenia snorted. "If you want to throw me off the path for me to die, you'd better think twice. I am not becoming plant food! Just go your way, and I will go mine.
Seeing Yasenia approach them, their eyes flashed dangerously. However, before they attacked, the dragoness summoned Soluna and her sword, her aura exploding outward and swallowing those four cultivators.
Since they weren't geniuses of any kind, just four average Transcendence Realm cultivators, Yasenia's aura instantly overwhelmed them. Terror grew in their hearts as they looked at Yasenia as if she were a monster. They were so scared that they moved aside, leaving a clear path for her to advance.
The dragoness snorted once and quickly entered the central area after hiding Soluna in her dantian. Those waiting noticed her, and they instantly became guarded.
'Let's see… Two sects I don't know, the Radiant Flow Sect and the Verdant Jade Sect. If these two superpowers are compromising and leaving the other two to stay, it means that the groups here don't have much strength or influence.'
Yasenia quickly scanned the auras, and she realized that there were a few mortals among the fourteen people. 'Ho~. It seems that my situation is not as bad as I thought.' She even felt a bit reluctant about having left those four to leave freely. 'I could've killed them and then slaughtered everyone here.'
Well, since she couldn't gamble at that time and things were a bit urgent, she just ignored her missed opportunity.
The fourteen cultivators, with six mortals and eight immortals, carefully observed as Yasenia walked in front of the fourth-tallest house and sat down in front of it. One of the mortals snorted. "Starting from the second most difficult, truly brainless."
One of the elders slapped the back of her head. "Don't be rude! Do you know her? Do you even know if she is stronger or weaker? Who told you to be so arrogant when a hidden cultivator appears in front of you!?"
Yasenia's eyebrow raised lightly as she looked over. 'What a good elder. He saved that girl's life.'
So, without any more delay, Yasenia placed a concealing formation on the ground and disappeared from their view.
The action was so instantaneous that some people almost mistook Yasenia for a ghost. "W-Where did she go?"
The elder snorted. "See? Is a person who has such a high-level concealing formation someone you can boss around? One day, this arrogance of yours will kill you!"
The girl was a bit ashamed and lowered her head.
"Still…" Another elder spoke with a frown. "What if this is not their first time here? If that's her fourth trial, it would be quite a problem."
The first elder sighed. "Can you deal with her?"
That person stiffened. When Yasenia used her aura burst before, the people here also felt it. So, they were aware of the dragoness's strength. "Even you, the elder of the only combat sect here, are not confident. What can we, from alchemy sects, even do? And, if it is as you say, it means that the individual is also skilled in Alchemy, so any tricks from us might backfire."
Another female elder added, her tone soft. "We also must protect the children. Fighting here is completely out of the question. It is too small for the children to hide from the aftershocks of our battle."
A male mortal cultivator asked, curious. "I wonder what the rewards are for completing this strange pill? I've never heard of it."
"You will know if you manage to complete it. You are our Verdant Jade Sect's genius. So, only you can concoct this pill before the time remaining for the secret realm finishes. Focus and wait patiently for the materials to be brought for you."
A timid girl spoke. "We could ask that person… With enough compensation, perhaps…"
The elders shook their heads and looked at the place where Yasenia had disappeared. 'It's better not to mess with someone with an aura that can scare us.'
Yasenia listened to their conversation for a little while. After she heard them, she nodded and smiled. "Good. Also, the Radiant Flow Sect … Lidia's sect, right? I met with Meng Lihua and the others before I fell into the Star Breaker Realm Bead's trial, and they were quite good people."
Soluna spoke happily. "Will you go there after the Secret Realm?"
"No." Yasenia smiled wryly. "I can't show any connections between myself and Angel's sister. Have you forgotten that I am currently a fugitive, Soluna?"
Soluna blinked. "Right. You are a juicy piece of meat that every sect wants a bite of."
"..."
Yasenia's lips twitched, but she refused to answer. Then, she took a deep breath and began her essence-extracting practice with the one-million-year-old herbs she gathered.
"...No wonder there is a jump in difficulty when working with these ancient herbs."
Yasenia looked at her bleeding hand with a surprised expression. When Yasenia went to extract the essence, she was attacked so quickly that her hand got injured. If her body was not as sturdy as it was, her hand might've been ripped off!
"But… while this is a problem, now that I know, I can fix it rather easily. Is this really all?"
A frown appeared, gently creasing the skin between her beautiful eyebrows. "There must be something more."
So, Yasenia continued her tests. But all the plants from which she extracted the essence reacted the same. First, a wild resistance. This resistance lasted until the first drops of pure essence were extracted. Once that occurred, the Spiritual Herb would calm down and do something very strange.
'Why is it pouring such pure energy from within into the essence I am extracting?'
It felt strange that the Spiritual Herb that acted so unruly suddenly changed its attitude 180 degrees and infused its essence with an intense purity and energy.
After dealing with the extra Spiritual Herbs during the last two months, Yasenia crossed her arms and became thoughtful. "Hm…" Even as the weight of her abundant breasts pressed on her arms, the dragoness couldn't come to a conclusion.
"I guess that this will be revealed after I get to work in the concocting process."
So, without hesitation, Yasenia began the concoction process of the [Star Soul Pill]. Similar to the other plants, the Star Soul Chrysanthemum resisted fiercely when it was squeezed. Even if it was small, its attacks were the most dangerous. After all, it didn't attack the body, but the mind.
Her soul received almost one hundred strikes before the first drop of essence appeared from the tiny Star Soul Chrysanthemum. Once it appeared, the flower, like the others, changed and focused all of its pure essence into the squeezing, helping Yasenia squeeze itself.
Yasenia ignored it and continued with her work. Her hands moved deftly, and soon, she began the concoction process. She threw the auxiliary herbs, heated them up, coated the insides of the cauldron, extracted impurities… The process she had repeated many times came easily to the dragoness.
Then, when she poured the Star Soul Chrysanthemum's essence, the change happened. As soon as Yasenia's spiritual sense touched the essence, intending to process it, a ridiculously violent reaction struck her mind.
BANG!
It felt as if someone had struck her brain with a hammer, making her lose control of the concoction. The second she did so, the cauldron trembled and then exploded.
BOOM!
The lid flew up, striking the concealing dome and making it ripple. Thankfully, it didn't break.
Soluna exclaimed, startled. "Y-Yasenia!? Are you okay!? What happened!? You are bleeding from your nose and eyes!"
Yasenia blinked, and her vision instantly turned reddish. With a deep frown, she touched her nose and felt the sticky liquid on her fingers. "...So that's what happens. Once again, if I were a normal alchemist, that might've killed me."
Taking a deep breath, she asked the treasures. "How much time is left before the Secret Realm closes?"
Sui Xing answered. "Two and a half years. If you concoct at that speed again, you might barely concoct the two of them. However, you must be quick and do your Transmutation faster than you've ever done it."
"Got it." Yasenia cleaned her face and focused. "Alright, now that I know, you won't get me again."
And so, the final concocting sessions began.