After she defeated her first copy, Yasenia didn't move and looked up. 'Soluna has finished a while ago. I was wondering why she didn't come down to help, but it seems that she had attained some kind of enlightenment.'
Looking around, Yasenia couldn't help but sigh. "This place is too good to train." Previously, she wanted to get the Bead so that she wouldn't get crippled by it. Now, though, her heart gained greedy desires for it. "I need to get it…." Looking between her breasts where the talismans were, her sight darkened. "Even if I need to use them, I must get this treasure."
While she thought about it, Yasenia suddenly heard a light rumbling sound and looked toward the origin. "That's… a staircase?"
A white staircase that went up and disappeared into the darkness had appeared from nowhere. It was wide enough for her normal dragon form to climb it, and each step was around 1 meter tall. 'Do each of those steps count as one? If so… That's 1,000 steps.'
A staircase that elevated for almost a kilometer into the sky. It was that long.
While Yasenia wanted to approach it, she didn't do so. Instead, she waited for Soluna to end her enlightenment. 'Let's think about the battle in the meantime. What did my opponent do that I didn't?'
As Yasenia reviewed the battle, she didn't recall anything particularly different. 'If anything… The copy was the first to use the body as a resource in the battle.'
Yasenia understood that her physique was terrifying for her level. It could be called an armor in itself. Then, when she protected and boosted it with her skills and her strengthened innate dress, that resistance went up a few notches.
"Do I fight… Too cleanly?" Yasenia tilted her head at the thought. "It is true that I avoid getting injured. However, isn't that normal? You don't know if the opponent has something that can aggravate existing wounds, so it's better to avoid getting damaged at all…"
She was a firm believer in not underestimating her enemy. Her copy's fighting method, compared to her own, was more beastly. The copy also used the inheritance defensive skill. "While it doesn't do that much… It was becoming increasingly hard to match the copy's attacks by the end. Are the erosive properties of [Heavenly Firmament Sanctuary] that powerful?"
It was honestly a skill that Yasenia barely ever touched. She felt that the effects were lacking in a one-on-one situation. While the ability to erode the enemy's energy and skills over time was powerful, Yasenia's battles were so quick that it often didn't matter whether she used the skill or not.
"If I thought in that way… I am being hurt by my ability to overwhelm my opponents. Honestly… How long has it been since I took so long to defeat someone before the copy?"
Yasenia tried to recall, and when she did so, she was surprised. "It was during my Tribulation. Since I entered the Sixth Realm, I've had no lengthy fights. Even that Abyssal Human was defeated relatively quickly."
The dragoness suddenly understood that the thing she might gain during the [Perfection Stairs] was not proficiency, but battle experience. In terms of body control, Yasenia trusted that she was quite advanced. She was someone who could move exactly as she thought to move.
It was part of her innate gift, which made her an absolute monstrous genius, battle-wise. Otherwise, she wouldn't have created the complex Grand Cosmos Martial Arts so casually back then.
"Hm… I wonder how much stronger the next level of the stairs will be?"
"I am also very excited!"
An echoey double voice reached Yasenia, making the dragoness smile. Turning to look at the origin, she noticed the beautiful Nascent Celestial Spirit looking at her with a beautiful grin. "Are you done, love?"
"Yeah!" Soluna jumped into Yasenia's arms, rubbing her face on her soft and deep valley. "Hehe… Hm? What do you have in here?"
Soluna lifted her face with a puzzled expression and reached inside, taking out the two talismans. "...Why do you have them here, Yasenia? Don't you have pockets on your skirt?"
Yasenia chuckled and took the talismans from Soluna. "I do have them there. However, to reach and activate them, I would need quite a lot of time. Imagine that a Seventh Realm cultivator attacks me for some reason. My reaction speed is fast, but I don't believe I will be able to reach out fast enough and activate it. So, I place it in a location where I can crush them with just a thought."
Soluna blurted, baffled. "You can crush talismans with your tits?"
Yasenia blinked twice. "What's wrong with that? With precise energy and muscle control, it is possible."
"Huh? Aren't breasts just fat and nerves?" Soluna looked down at her recently acquired physical body and fondled her soft bundles. "I… I don't know how to move them. No, is it even possible?"
Yasenia burst into laughter. "You silly spirit. Of course, I can't move them by myself; that's why I told you I use energy for it. Either way, I can easily squish things inside by moving my arms inwards as well."
Soluna compared her own breasts and Yasenia's and lamented. "Two mountains and two sunny-side ups."
Yasenia laughed again and hugged the spirit, using her hands to fondle the spirit at will. "Yours fit in my hands perfectly. It's very comfortable to fondle. I like it very much~."
Soluna harrumphed, trying to hide the pleasant sensation of the expert masseur. "That makes me mildly joyful, not a lot!"
The dragoness bit the spirit's ear and whispered in a seductive voice. "You are lucky we don't have a lot of time, or I would've forced you to lose your form with just my hands."
Soluna's face blushed. "T-That… Are we really in that big of a hurry? I don't think we—"
PANG!
Draheart flew and slapped the back of the spirit's head accurately, almost causing her to tumble forward.
"W-What was that for!?" Soluna looked at Draheart with eyes full of bewilderment.
Draheart spoke with no emotion. "Sorry, I slipped."
"S-Slipped on what, you stupid flying sword!?"
Dramel laughed at the side. "Soluna almost rolled like a boulder. Sadly, her mountain slope is too flat for the roll to occur. It would be more like a drop in your case."
Yasenia covered her mouth, trying not to laugh while Soluna received a critical hit. Soluna glared at Dramel. "And you two who have those inflated balloons and measure as tall as a chair!? You look so disproportionate that one would think someone missed a zero when setting up your heights!"
Dramel and Draheart, who looked like twins, both glared at Soluna.
Yasenia coughed, swallowing her laughter. "Alright, alright. Let's go to the next level. We can't waste so much time here." As she stood up, Yasenia asked Soluna. "Love, what did you realize during your enlightenment?"
Soluna stopped exchanging glares with the two weapons and turned to look at Yasenia. A smile appeared as she hugged the dragoness' arm. "I realized that my way of using my three skills was too stiff. Moreover, [One With The Cosmos] has become stronger. Now, strength-wise, it is about the same as a peak Level 2 Intent Domain.
Yasenia hummed. "Quite good progress. I remember that you only managed to increase it to the beginning of the second level around half a year ago, right?"
"Yeah!" Soluna smiled, satisfied. "My strength is now much higher!"
The dragoness smirked. "Which means that your copy is also stronger."
"Ah." Soluna blinked twice and smiled awkwardly. "Well… We'll deal with it later."
The dragoness gave her a faint smile. Then, they arrived in front of the stairs. "More than walking up the stairs, I need to jump. One-meter-tall stairs… they reach around my thigh area."
Even then, they didn't care much. All four of them floated up lightly and landed on the first stair. But, the second Yasenia did so, the stairs disappeared.
"Huh?"
The dragoness looked around and saw another copy of herself in the distance. Soluna, Draheart, and Dramel also surrounded the copy.
Yasena's face changed when she realized the implications. 'There are 1,000 levels of difficulty for the copies? Will there be copies that do not only mimic, but also surpass my strength?'
As she pondered, her hand actions didn't stop. Yasenia took Draheart and spoke aloud. "Let's deal with them."
Soluna commented, her eyes squinting. "Yasenia… Can you see a very faint colored aura around the copies? Or is it just me?"
The dragoness paused and squinted with Soluna. "... you are right. They have a brownish aura around them. Closer to a bronze color with a greyish tint?"
Dramel spoke while floating behind Yasenia. Her melodious voice was full of intrigue. "These [Perfection Stairs] are so mysterious. I can only imagine the resources, time, and expertise needed to create them."
"Indeed." Yasenia took a step forward, and the copy did the same. "Let's fight. We'll follow the same tactic we used on the previous floor."
With that, the battle started. Soluna and the copy flew to the sky, and they both started exchanging blows. Yasenia frowned slightly when she saw Soluna being pushed back by the copy. Soluna shouted. "Yasenia, my copy's control over [One With The Cosmos] is far ahead of me! I will be unable to finish before you, so be careful!"
The dragoness's expression turned serious, and she used [Pegasus Gallop] right at the same time as the copy to approach and clash in the middle. Both Drahearts collided, creating a powerful shockwave. Yasenia's pupils thinned. 'This copy is stronger than the other one by quite a bit. I am unable to push it back in equal conditions.'
Yasenia's face turned serious, and she activated [Heavenly Firmament Sanctuary] and [Celestial Dress]. The copy did the same.
After that, Yasenia attacked quickly without using skills. Draheart and the copy flew around repeatedly, Dramel's melody accompanying the cacophony of sword strikes that both Yasenias exchanged.
As they fought with raw technique, Yasenia couldn't help but feel excited. 'This copy's control is clearly a level above the other, and almost three levels above me.'
If Yasenia were a 130-year-old who had both combat and normal experiences until her current age, the copy was a version of Yasenia who spent those 130 years perfecting her battle style but was slightly weaker cultivation-wise.
"I can only be on the defensive if I don't get an advantage soon. With Soluna having some trouble, I can't afford to play fair. Let's get serious, shall we?"
Yasenia began buffing herself, starting with the [Immortal Breaker Body] and [Celestial Dragon Body]. The copy did exactly the same.
However, since these buffs were multiplicative, the minimal distance in strength between them stretched slightly wider. Exchanging blows one after another, Yasenia took around 50 minutes to defeat the copy.
By the end of the exchange, Yasenia was full of cuts and with injuries all around her body. Thankfully, she had no major injuries. 'That difference in strength was so noticeable…'
Looking up, she noticed that Soluna actually lost one of her arms while fighting the copy. 'I should help her soon.'
With a jump, Yasenia flew up and subdued the copy of Soluna, opening the now 999 stairs.