Seeing Gu Shen standing in front of her, smiling with that creepy look full of twisted possessiveness, Yasenia frowned. She was reluctant to exchange any more words with him, so even when the man looked like he wanted to speak, she didn't bother.
Instead, she summoned Draheart and charged forward.
The starlit Pegasus manifested, merging with Yasenia as she lunged forward.
Gu Shen, not having expected Yasenia to attack so suddenly, barely reacted. With a wave of his sleeve, a mass of insects flew out, forming a massive, colorful wave.
Yasenia was unfazed. Instead, her two defensive dresses manifested around her figure, and she barreled into the mass of insects.
"[Star Pierce]."
BOOM!
White light engulfed the area, a hole appearing in the wall of insects.
Everything happened so suddenly that even the spectators failed to react properly. Only when Yasenia's Draheart descended with the weight of the sky behind it, causing tremors, did everyone's focus sharpen.
Seeing the giant sword approach his head, Gu Shen summoned another insect hastily. "[Thousand Layer Beetle Shield]."
BANG!
The beetle's backside sank, its armor-like carapace shattering under Yasenia's terrifying strength. The poor bug didn't last more than half a second before Draheart pierced through and divided it in half.
Thankfully for Gu Shen, that was enough time to retreat and regain his bearings.
The sight of his defensive insect splitting in two made his expression twist with a touch of surprise. He had never expected to loose one of his strongest defensive insects in the first exchange.
"You…" Gu Shen glared at Yasenia, and his robes fluttered, thousands of insects flying out. "I will make sure you don't die after you become my plaything!"
Yasenia didn't flinch or answer. Instead, she opened her mouth widely. "[Celestial Dragon Breath]."
ROAR!
WHOOM!
A low, humming sound accompanied Yasenia's powerful dragon roar, celestial light swallowing the world.
Terrifying danger came from the Dragon's breath, forcing him to activate his Intent Domain to defend.
"[Evolution Intent Domain Level Four]."
Another defensive beetle appeared in front of him, its length almost ten meters. When it appeared, the beetle opened its wings, and a shield-like aura formed in front of it.
The Dragon Breath landed, its power unmatched.
BANG!
The beetle and Gu Shen were pushed back, but as the breath crumbled the defensive shield down, the body of the beetle changed. Its black carapace gained a faint bluish hue, and the shield's crumbling speed slowed down.
Yasenia had to stop her Dragon Breath, the insects the man had summoned reaching her position. "[Scorching Sword]."
Golden flames manifested in Yasenia's sword and around her tail. Then, she gracefully spun around once.
A tide of flames manifested, swallowing everything around Yasenia. The destructiveness of her flames was astounding, killing everything below Level Two Transcendence Realm defense and heavily injuring anything above it.
'Some of them survived.'
Her eyes scanned the few dozen insects that were still sweeping toward her. "[Tyrant Warlord Intent Domain]."
The next moment, everything fell under Yasenia's absolute control. Her mind mapped the battlefield, pinpointing the best route to fighting and slaughtering every single insect within range. "[Fairy Moon Steps]."
With a step, her body vanished and appeared before a powerful-looking mantis more than 30 meters tall. Draheart descended at speeds far beyond what the mantis could react to and crashed on top of its head.
The brute force behind the sword didn't result in a cut. Instead, Yasenia's sword swing ripped off the mantis's head, making it crash onto the ground with a splat. The aura from [Scorching Sword] engulfed the rest of the body, killing mercilessly.
A cockroach-like creature approached from behind, its mandibles trying to bisect Yasenia across her waist. Yasenia's tail moved without turning to look. This time, her tail glowed with celestial energies. "[Celestial Sunder]."
SLASH!
The heavily armored bug was split in half once more, the aura of the attack speeding out of the arena and causing terrifying damage. Some seniors had to intervene, or their juniors would've been killed by the stray sword aura.
Yasenia didn't stop after killing those two.
With another step, she sneaked up behind a moth-like creature, Draheart spewing golden flames and swallowing the creature.
For the next few seconds, Yasenia moved across the battlefield with grace and strength, crushing all the insects that Gu Shen had released.
When she was done, she turned to look at Gu Shen.
The man was smiling widely, his energy pouring onto the beetle that blocked her Dragon Breath.
'I don't really want to know what he is doing with that thing. An Intent Domain like Evolution is probably the type that gets exponentially stronger as time passes.'
With that in mind, Yasenia decided to crush him so thoroughly that he wouldn't dare raise his head in front of her in the future.
'Let's see if your senior is quick enough to save you.'
Then, she walked forward.
"[Celestial Tyrant Soul Unshackled], [Firmament Soul Sword]..."
Each time Yasenia's foot landed on the ground, her aura violently transformed and deepened.
"…[Immortal Breaker Body], [Celestial Dragon Body]..."
This was the first time the spectators felt Yasenia's full might; until now, they had only seen her through screens.
Her steps, each one creating a brutal shockwave that slammed against the tournament's protective barrier, made everyone's hearts thump in rhythm.
"...[Celestial Cosmos Dress], [Crystalline Moon Dress], ..."
Her seductive blue dress transformed completely, becoming a long, ethereal gown shimmering with crystalline empyrean beauty.
"...[Empyrean Galaxy Domain], and finally, [Celestial Intent Domain]."
Yasenia raised her sword, her strength reaching a staggering level. The sky changed colors, a galaxy of stars manifesting together with a giant Sun and Moon.
For those looking, it felt as if the hegemon of the cosmos suddenly descended, manifesting the very universe around her. Her golden eyes, now changed into celestial blue eyes filled with starlight, showed indifference and coldness toward all creatures in the world.
Gu Shen was honestly startled. He knew that Yasenia was strong, as even his master had warned him. Of course, his master didn't really think that he would lose if he could use all of his powers.
However, now standing in front of the first Empyrean Cosmos Dragon, his beliefs faltered. Deep inside his twisted mind, he understood that he had no chance of winning.
Even when he managed to reach Level Five of Transcendence in the lake, the dragon in front of him looked like an impossibly tall mountain.
Yasenia grabbed Draheart with both her hands, the sword pointing toward the sky. Then, all her energy surged and manifested around it.
"[Shattering…"
Gu Shen, startled, quickly commanded the bugs around him. "Form a defensive wall! Don't let her attacks go through!"
His [Evolution Intent Domain] was terrifying. He could basically transform his creatures, mixing them together for greater individual strengths.
The principle was similar to Zi Hua's but different. Zi Hua liked to use masses of small creatures and truly encompasses the "parasite" route. Meanwhile, Gu Shen liked to fight with armies of different yet distinctive bug creatures. Of course, he also had sublime parasite control.
However, his main force was more individual.
If one were to place him in any category, that would be an entomancer.
Yasenia's sword began its first descent, and her voice boomed with unmatched authority.
"...The Heavens]."
The world shattered in front of Yasenia, light swallowing everything in front of her with boundless, crushing strength.
BOOM!!!!
Of the few hundred bugs in a defensive formation, over a dozen died in the first attack.
Yasenia didn't care. Her sword, now pointing down diagonally, began its ascent.
"[Firmament Shaking Arc]."
Physical strength gathered, each of her cells carrying intently concentrated body energy. When Yasenia's sword completed a diagonal swing, an arc of raw body energies, enhanced by Yasenia's attributes, tore through the world.
BAAANGG!!
The crushing physical strength of the dragon woman crushed over two dozen insects, reducing their number much faster than what Gu Shen could create.
Gu Shen was almost paralyzed. The power those strikes carried was far from normal. Two attacks were enough to basically paralyze his Level Four Intent Domain's effectiveness.
While he flinched, the raised sword began its second descent. Yasenia's eyes were cold and indifferent. In her eyes, it didn't matter who or what was in front of her sword.
She would just break through everything with raw, tyrannical power.
"[Soul Dividing Tyrannical Cleave]."
SLASH!
The move wasn't as flashy as the previous two, but the effects were far worse.
The spectators noticed almost fifty insects flinch, then fall limply right after. Yasenia's eyes flickered when she saw that. "So this is your weakness. Go die then."
"[Soul Dividing Tyrannical Cleave]."
"[Soul Dividing Tyrannical Cleave]."
"[Soul Dividing Tyrannical Cleave]."
"[Soul Dividing Tyrannical Cleave]."
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
Yasenia's absolute suppression rendered most of his skills unusable. How could he use any offensive method when the second he stopped defending, he would be split in two?
Yasenia's sword was not fast. Each attack was clearly visible and deliberate, with a breathing space between them.
But it didn't matter.
Gu Shen was helpless.
'What is this?'
He was just suppressed, utterly and unbelievably helpless.
SLASH!
Another fifty of his insects were cleaved by that terrifying sword. 'How can a single being have such a terrifying strength?'
His eyes, frantic, scanned the surroundings, searching for a solution. Sadly, in front of overwhelming strength, all scheming fell short.
Yasenia swung her sword one last time, the crescent tearing through the last group of insects within Gu Shen's Evolution Intent Domain. "Without shields, now it's your turn. Disappear."
Yasenia raised her hand and extended it. It looked as if she was trying to grab the very firmament above her.
"[Falling…"
Then, Yasenia completed a throwing motion with strenuous movements.
"...Sky]."
Gu Shen, defeated, looked up with blank eyes. All the celestial bodies around them fell toward him, their size and numbers indescribable.
He couldn't help but look at Yasenia. The dragon woman had already straightened her body, her sword resting gently as it pointed outwardly and down diagonally, while her other hand glowed with celestial energies.
The gorgeous dress fluttered without wind, adding an ethereal feel to her existence. Her eyes, limpid and indifferent, glanced at him as if he were a rock at the side of the road.
'I died.'
Those were Gu Shen's thoughts, something that would be true were they not in a tournament.
Gu Shen's master, the same woman who taught Zi Hua, stepped forward and waved her hand. Terrifying darkness swallowed all of Yasenia's attacks, making them disappear effortlessly.
The second she descended, Ao Xianlan and Tatyana both appeared by Yasenia's side, their eyes cold and threatening as they looked at her.
"Hmph."
With a humph, she took Gu Shen and left the arena. Because she had to interfere, Gu Shen was disqualified, with no chance to challenge others.
Yasenia's face didn't change for a second during the whole ordeal. Instead, she glanced at Ao Xianlan and Tatyana and, for the first time since the battle, showed a faint yet beautiful smile. "I won."
Tatyana laughed. "Overwhelmingly so."
Ao Xianlan gently patted her head twice. "Great job."
Then, both seniors flashed to the stands again.