Heaven, Earth, Me

When Yasenia suggested taking a drop of her Blood Essence, Andrea was clearly reluctant. Not only Andrea but also the rest felt the same. Most frowned at once, looking at Yasenia with a confused or disapproving expression. 

Evelyn jumped forward and laughed awkwardly. "Okay, dear. I know that you want to protect Andrea, but you've jumped many levels with that suggestion, eh? You have yet to become a Seventh-level Dantian Spiritualization Cultivator, unlike the rest of us. If you do this, you will delay your advancement even more than it already has. Moreover, that would happen just as you finally discovered how to advance."

Yasenia looked at Evelyn and smiled under her veil. "Oh? Then, what other suggestion do you have? Nobody could move when the Moon Goddess Soul Strand deployed her Intent Domain. Not even Tatyana and Valeria." Looking at the floating ancient mirror woman, she added. "Mirrory is also too weak because Angel has yet to reach the Sixth Realm to fight against the Soul Strand of a former Eighth Realm cultivator." 

When Evelyn and the others looked over, Mirrory didn't deny it. She explained, gesturing with her hands. "Take it in this sense. I am a Soul Strand in the fifth realm of a former Eighth Realm cultivator. They are one at the Sixth Realm. That's, in my opinion, a fair comparison before I am able at least to materialize a slight part of my true self." 

"Fair enough." Evelyn nodded, but then, she added. "Even then, it shouldn't push us to jump to conclusions and have you give Andrea a drop of your blood essence!"

Kali agreed with Evelyn. "Love, I am with Evelyn this time around. You are skipping many steps." The fox woman looked at Tatyana and asked her. "We have the Soul Strand of the Moon Goddess now, right? Can't we do something with that?"

Tatyana shook her head. "I just captured it. We've had basically no time to do any experiments on it." 

Evelyn scratched her head. "Why haven't you given it to your other self? You could've analyzed it with that body instead, no?"

Tatyana denied that option again. "I can't send this thing that easily. I need to seal her thoroughly first, and that takes time. If not, she might be able to escape during the journey toward the [Underworld]."

The girls looked at their dragoness with annoyed expressions, and they all answered together. "We haven't!"

The loud answer made Yasenia raise her arms in surrender. "Sure. Sure. I'll wait to see if any of you have any better suggestions. I am open to ideas."

Andrea bonked her head softly and reprimanded. "You participate as well! Don't close in on your answer because you think it is the safest one for me."

The dragoness blinked twice and pouted. "You know me so well, Darling."

Andrea rolled her light-green eyes and sighed. Still, she kissed Yasenia's forehead and smiled. "Remember, we don't want you to hurt yourself so that we can be safer. We want to grow stronger, right?"

Yasenia nodded gently and sighed. "I know, Darling. It's not that I have not evaluated other options. However, I really can't think of anything. The Soul Strand of the Moon Goddess was just too strong. I don't know if I could've won if it weren't because of the spiritual pressure that my [Celestial Energy Star] creates in my soul world and Cecile's. The chances were actually fifty-fifty, even when my soul is as strong as it is."

They all listened to her words. The dragoness leaned into Andrea's arms, making the tall woman feel the soft and voluptuous body between her arms. "If the Moon Goddess decided to kill us before taking Cecile over, forget about defending; we might've died right there and then." 

Yasenia snuggled closely, burying her face on Andrea's neck. "The Sun God is not as compassionate as the Moon Goddess in this regard. The times we've seen him, he has clearly been an objective-driven person. If he feels even a sense of threat from us, even giving you my soul essence might not work."

The girls paused, feeling Yasenia's worry in them. The dragoness was clearly right about many of these things. The choice she made was not even the optimal one, as there was no truly safe route. Angel asked, curious. "Um… Why are we assuming that the Sun God's Soul Strand has also been corrupted like the Moon Goddess?"

Mirrory leaned both her hands and chin on Angel's head, floating behind her horizontally. "We are taking into account a worst-case scenario, Angel."

Angel blinked twice and nodded. "I see, I see~. Hm… Then, can't we create a soul-restraining formation outside of the trial so that we can trap the Sun God's Soul Strand? The Moon Goddess situation showed that the Soul Strands can't escape without our help, so if anything happens, it will happen here, outside the trial." Angel commented, tapping her chin. "If they could escape alone, they wouldn't stay trapped, after all."

Everyone paused and turned to look at the petite and big-breasted woman. Yasenia blinked a few times and then jogged forward, smushing Angel into her soft body with a tight hug. "My Baby is so clever!"

Tatyana hummed and rubbed her chin. "That's a great suggestion. We were too focused on the battle against the strand…"

In the meantime, Evelyn muttered, her eyes squinted as if she had just eaten a scrumptious meal. "That jog was heavenly… The bounce, the jiggle! I have been blessed!"

SLAP!

The dragoness turned toward Tatyana, completely ignoring that she just sent Evelny flying in a vertical arc and spinning with a super precise tail slap. "So, let's do that!"

Tatyana smiled and commented, sighing with faked tiredness. "I can't work without receiving a bit of pampering-woah!"

"Muah! Muah! Muah! Muah!"

Yasenia teleported forward, snatching Tatyana off her feet. Then, she started kissing her face with her soft lips as if she wanted to mark every inch of her skin with her non-existent lipstick.

After placing Tatyana on the ground, the woman's lips couldn't arch down as she groggily walked around, her red eyes dreamily looking without processing what she saw, as only Yasenia's kissing face reflected in her eyes. "Ah… Heaven."

Everyone laughed faintly before they got to work, creating a powerful formation around the place where they would be transported to the trial. The location for that was quite clear, as there was a large room in the middle of the ruined altar-looking citadel where a place to slot in Andrea's figurine stood.

"And… Done!"

Tatyana painted the last stroke, and the entire formation came to life before disappearing. Then, she looked at Andrea and gave the go-ahead sign. "Time to meet this man!"

Andrea nodded seriously and approached the small slot on the wall where her figure fit. This wall had a lot of eroded imagery that was basically impossible to decipher. However, the surface around the place to slot the figurine could be seen to be as good as new, clearly created with a material that could stand the weight of time.

After the figurine was slotted, Yasenia suddenly remembered something and asked. "Um… Where is Fulo?"

Andrea blinked twice and exclaimed. "Ah."

Fulo's voice reached Yasenia from behind. "Did you call Lady Yasenia?" 

Yasenia's lips twitched. 'Crap. I shouldn't have called him.'n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

WHOOSH!

A blinding golden light surrounded all of them before they could tell the Young Man anything, and their minds blacked out for a second as a sense of vertigo surrounded all of them. 

Once they opened their eyes, they had similarly been transported to a massive and grand location where glamorous and luxurious adornments filled every corner, highlighting the glory of the Sun God. The golden accessories, gorgeous white and brown furniture, red carpets and complex chandeliers made an image of austerity and prosperity. 

"Welcome to the Lost Sun Palace."

A man's deep and attractive voice reached them, making their ears vibrate pleasantly. When they turned around, they saw a man with shining golden eyes and gorgeous long raven-black hair. He was a tall man with a physique seemingly carved by gods and poise similar to that of an Emperor, attractive beyond belief.

His body was coated by golden and white robes that could do little to hide the perfect physique hiding below, and his piercing eyes and straight eyebrows added sharpness to his figure.

Yasenia raised her eyebrow slightly. 'Oho~. He looks younger than the one I saw and also more… energetic. Full of power?' 

However, as she did that, Kali and Cecile pinched her sides, making her take a sharp breath. "Hiss, it hurts."

Cecile spat. "Stop ogling the man." 

Kali added, looking at her gently and smiling. "He is good-looking, eh? Is he your type?"

Yasenia didn't buy that pretty smile on her fox's face! She could feel her skin crawling with fear. Of course, regardless of her opinion, she answered like a good wife would. "Attracted? Me? Not at all! Not even close. Look how ugly he is!"

Blurting that aloud without any care in the world naturally fell on the ears of the person looking at them. "... Ugly?"

The deep and attractive voice of the man fell on Yasenia's ears, and she looked straight at him with a serious expression. "Yes. Ugly."

Everyone's mouths fell open. 'S-She actually doubled down!?'

Yasenia pleaded for everyone to understand her plight. If she didn't double-down, she would be folded-down by her dears!

The Sun God looked at Yasenia for a few seconds and spoke, confused. "You were actually able to say that to my face? That's… Interesting." His eyes didn't contain anger, only curiosity. For this Soul Strand, this was actually the first time someone called him ugly. 

The Sun God stepped forward, disappearing and appearing right in front of Yasenia. Nobody could react; his speed was just too high. "You are interesting, woman. How about staying here…" The Soul Strand paused and frowned. "Right… There is her. It has been so long since I saw her…"

The man shook his head and stepped back, returning to the throne where he previously sat. He waved his hand. "Never mind that. I was rude." 

The dragoness's eyebrows rose with genuine surprise this time around. 'Wow… He is quite… Good-tempered?'

The man looked at them, leaning his face on his fist, and he looked at Andrea. "It seems that you found one of the figurines that I threw around the lower realms. You've managed to create an initial connection with it as well, which means that you are compatible with my inheritance. However, I can't give it to you without proving your mettle first." 

He added, his face stoic and serious like before. "I'll need you to do three trials. Do you want to take the test? All the people that have come with you will need to help you, so selflessness would be the prerequisite to it, of course."

Andrea looked at the Sun God and nodded seriously. "I am ready."