With Ao Yuelan's call, Yasenia slowly stood up and dispelled all of her auras. After maintaining them for a week straight, she could notice a change in her body.
'There is ease in usage now.'
Previously, changing to her strongest state took a little while, which is why she sometimes needed to take her time to apply all of her buffs.
After this week, she knew that the time she needed to reach her peak-performing version was reduced. It had not disappeared, as that would take much more time and effort. However, there was progress.
Once her aura disappeared, everyone who was using her pressure to practice opened their eyes, as if they had been awakened from a fleeting dream.
Many stretched, feeling stronger and refined.
Looking at Yasenia's figure, the mortals bowed. "Thank you, senior!"
Titles referred to strength, not age. Yasenia, as a Level Three Sixth Realm cultivator, earned their respect. So, there was no shame in calling her senior.
Yasenia nodded lightly, showing neither delight nor disdain at their gesture. She was calm, nothing else.
"This round has been intense. We've seen battles extending until the very last second, geniuses being overwhelmed by numbers. Betrayal between parties we thought united, and much more! In the end, though, only 64 winners remain. Let's give way to the strongest geniuses of their generation!!"
Ao Yuelan needed to keep people entertained, so she decided to be slightly more theatrical.
With a wave of her long sleeves, the terrain shifted once again. This time, everything changed in ways that no one expected. The sixty-four platforms shifted positions, sliding as each gained a number and merged with its opposite. The 64th merged with the 1st platform, the 63rd with the 2nd, and so on.
Yasenia looked down and saw the number 9 gleaming with gorgeous lights. 'So… I will be facing platform fifty-six.'
Her spiritual senses scanned the area from above, and she quickly found her next opponent. Her eyes moved, landing on a rugged and tall man. His physique could only be called mountainous, as he towered over two meters tall with a thickness not much different from his height.
Yasenia could tell that he was a beast human, but not of what kind. The beast attributes of him were more physical than characteristic. Brown fur on his arms and bare chest, fingers that ended in powerful claws, and sharp eyes.
He wore a nice pair of loose pants that brushed the ground, with a white, striped fur belt keeping them in place and adding some wild charm.
While he looked violently buffed, Yasenia wouldn't deny his attractiveness to women who loved beastly men.
When their platforms merged, the tall man crossed his arms and looked at Yasenia intently. There was no fear in his face, only wariness. "Young Dragon, I am Farsha of the Striped Ivory Beast Clan. I want to ask for your hand in marriage if I defeat you."
Yasenia blinked twice, then she chuckled. "While I appreciate the offer, I will have to decline it, Farsha. Even if you win against me, I can't give myself to others, as I am already taken."
Farsha frowned, not having expected a rejection. Still, after thinking, he relaxed his expression and nodded. "Alright, I understand. If I win, I'll challenge your partner next and take you away from him."
Yasenia sighed softly and refused to answer further. 'He is probably from a Demon Continent, or something strikingly similar.'
She had learned that, in a world where the strong make right, this kind of courtship was considered rather normal in more places than she imagined. 'It seems that Mom pampered me when I was young.'
Her perspective on love could be described as privileged, and while there are many places that practice consent, without strength, it's rare for relationships to even form.
'Even I am not an exception. If Angel, Evelyn, Andrea, Kali, and Cecile had not been talented enough initially to catch my attention, they would've become one of the many I considered but ended up rejecting. Like those twins…'
Her mind flew back toward those two girls. They were adorable, and she liked almost everything about them. Sadly, their talent was sorely lacking. Back in the Academy, they were in a green classroom, showing a lack of potential.'
While she mused over her actions with nostalgia and some fondness, Ao Yuelan's voice echoed around. "From now on, the battles will run continuously. The platform numbers were generated randomly. When all platforms stop fighting, they will automatically merge with your next opponent and be given the green light to fight!"
Ao Yuelan's lips arched, her gorgeous features showing some ruthlessness. "So, contestants… Fight, fight, and fight until you claw your way to the top! Destroy your opponents and prove you are the strongest genius. Now, without further delay, let the battles begin!"
Yasenia was faintly surprised. She had not expected the last rounds to be so brutal.
Farsha didn't waste time and lunged forward like a pouncing beast.
Farsha's clan had extremely powerful innate bodies. Therefore, he wanted to take Yasenia by surprise and set the battle's pace.
His aura exploded, spiritual energy reinforcing his body until it gleamed under the sun. His claws grew, extending for over 30 centimeters, and his muscles bulged with power.
"[Torrential Ivory Claw Storm]!"
Yasenia glanced at the approaching mass of muscles and grinned faintly. 'You want a physical contest? Sure, I'll give it to you.'
As Farsha approached, Yasenia's body awakened.
BOOM!
The air around her bloated before it violently expanded under her body's tyrannical might. Each cell hummed with endless energy, her muscle strands and bones becoming taut as she prepared for the clash.
Then, without a single moment of hesitation, Yasenia stomped the ground and shot forward to meet Farsha head-on.
Farsha was confused. He heard from his senior that Yasenia was strong, and the fight she fought against Gu Shen showed him that. However, the way she fought, in his mind, was by enhancing her own power over and over again, pushing her to heights no other cultivator at her level could achieve.
With his Level Four Transcendence Realm strength and Spiritual Body Cultivation Technique, Farsha had yet to find anyone of his own generation who could match his physical strength.
Both sides approached like meteors, and then, Farsha unleashed his skill. His arms moved quickly, his fingers curling to create a threatening angle for each of his long claws.
Yasenia's eyes flashed, her thin smile widening a touch more. "[Grand Cosmos Martial Art, Second Form…"
Farsha unleashed thousands of attacks, painting their surroundings white with the number of claw phantoms, and yet, Yasenia did the unthinkable.
"...Galaxy Flow]."
Her fist gleamed with cosmic lights, and then, she punched out to meet each and every single attack barreling her way.
BABABABANG!
Yasenia's arms and tail moved independently, creating a gorgeous pattern around her. She punched, spun, kicked, and tail-lashed at all the incoming attacks, her figure moving and her shadows creating a phantom galaxy. She was everywhere, her violent physical strength bursting through each of Farsha's attacks.
Farsha's eyes widened in stupefaction. He didn't stop; he couldn't afford to, yet his heart thundered in his chest.
If his attacks were like endless rain droplets, Yasenia was like a tornado that swept everything around her.
BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!
"Haha!" Yasenia let two excited laughs escape her. Her golden eyes looked at Farsha as a worthy prey.
"Not bad! Not Bad!" She spoke excitedly. "However, if this is all you have, it's far from enough!"
Her body movements shifted, her stance changing as Galaxy Flow stopped. "[Grand Cosmos Martial Art, First Form…"
As Farsha's attack approached her, Yasenia pulled her fist back slightly and then punched forward. The word in front of her fist seemed to collapse as endless spiritual and body energies mixed with the energy radiating from her Beast Core.
"…Stellar Burst]!"
RUUUMBLE!
All white claw shadows were destroyed in front of Yasenia's horrifying punch. The celestial lights coating her fist felt as if a miniature star was about to explode.
Farsha quickly crossed his arms. "[Ivory Wall]!"
Complex spiritual energies that manifested from his bloodline wrapped around his figure, focusing on the two arms and enhancing his defense exponentially.
Right after, Yasenia's fist landed.
BOOOM!!!!
Farsha's eyes bulged; the force behind Yasenia's punch shattering his defenses. His feet lost grip with the ground, and then, he flew.
Everyone saw Farsha's body streak through the platform like a shooting star, the muscular man barely able to plant his foot on the solid rock and slide back while stopping himself near the edge.
His arms were trembling and swollen, the bones fractured.
Farsha's seniors and he himself wore grim expressions. 'What kind of physical strength is that? Wasn't she an expert in soul arts!? Why is her physical strength so ridiculous!?'
Even after seeing her fight that beast in the illusion world, it was difficult to truly understand just how strong that monster was. With Speed and Strength Intent Domains retroactively strengthening each other, its punches were almost as strong as someone in the high-levels of the Transcendence Realm.
Otherwise, Yasenia wouldn't have been so helpless until she unleashed all of her strength and suppressed it.
Farsha, while talented in spiritual body arts, was a far cry from that illusion monster.
'I can't fight her like this. I need to strengthen myself!'
But that was a mistake.
"[Ivory Ancestral Bloodline]! [Diamond Ivory Claws]! [Unbreaking Ivory Fur]!"
His aura skyrocketed, a pillar of white light soaring to the sky as his body strengthened beyond measure. As Farsha strengthened his body, he heard a slightly disappointed voice.
"Oh. That's it? No more hand-to-hand combat? Sigh, fine. Since you want to play with buffs, I'll humor you."
After those words lingered in the air, Farsha looked at Yasenia, and then his breath hitched.
BOOM!
Yasenia's dress transformed, her eyes turning a celestial blue, and her aura ballooning without end.
In just an instant, Farsha felt as if the sky above him was about to collapse while Yasenia stood there indifferently. He wanted to shout something valiant, but as he opened his mouth, Yasenia moved.
A gorgeous starlit Pegasus manifested, merging into her as two gorgeous white wings manifested on her back. The wings flapped just as she stomped forward, and her figure disappeared.
'W-What?'
An instant later, Yasenia's gorgeous figure reappeared above him, her fist raised and her cold, indifferent eyes looking down. "[Grand Cosmos Martial Art, Seventh Form…"
The punch tore the world as it advanced, the very earth quaking around them as Farsha barely defended.
"...Astral Convergence]."
Celestial Energy exploded and twisted with violence, ripping through Farsha's defenses as if they were paper. The man felt his muscles, bones, and organs twisting under the terrifying attack.
BOOM!!!
His body transformed into a white streak of light, cratering like a meteor outside the arena and creating a massive dust column, his fate unknown.
All the spectators became silent. This was no longer a competition. It was a one-sided massacre.