Heaven, Earth, Me

Chapter 1612: Chapter 1612. Speculations and Restrictions.

Everyone focused on the chain and orb that the maid had dropped. The orange, glowing orb with yellow lines rolled across the tiled floor, clinging to the wall of the ritual room.

Yasenia moved over, intending to pick it up, but Tatyana stopped her. "Wait, Little Treasure."

Her action surprised Yasenia a bit, but she was obedient and stopped leaning down. Tatyana gazed at the orb with a thoughtful look and spoke to Mirrory and Valeria. "What do you two think of it?"

Mirrory appeared by Tatyana’s side and spoke. "High quality item."

Yasenia’s pupils widened for a moment. Those words coming from Mirrory’s mouth were quite shocking. Valeria agreed with Mirrory’s assessment. "This item might as well be part of the reason as to why this section of the world fell down the Heavenly Layers."

Tatyana turned to look at the maids and Dune. "Are there any more Forbidden Zones in this world?"

Dune nodded. "There are three more Forbidden Zones. The Death Dunes, where we are now, and then there are the Voracious Forest, Abyssal Ocean Maw, and finally the Stale Plain."

Evelyn frowned. "Abyssal...? Could there be residents from the [Abyss] here?"

While she had only faced them once back then, those horrifying creatures were quite fresh in Evelyn’s memory. They were one of the few creatures that almost took Yasenia’s life. She even recalled Tatyana’s anxious shout back then. ’Just recalling it makes my heart pound...’

Contrary to Evelyn’s worries, Tatyana shook her head. "I don’t think so. If there truly was a portal to the [Abyss] in that zone, this world would’ve long been swallowed."

Mirrory asked. "What if there is a group of hidden Abyssal Hunters keeping a check on that place?"

Tatyana paused and pondered. "This world’s history is quite long, tracing back before the Heavenly Cataclysm, and due to the nature of this Heavenly Layer, individuals living longer than a million years at the Sixth Realm are too rare."

Valeria commented. "They could’ve passed down their duties."

Tatyana shook her head, even more convinced. "Too weak of an argument. While Abyssal Hunters are dedicated to their duty, over a million years without a single individual escaping that place or searching for help from locals does not make sense."

Mirrory glanced at Tatyana with an interested gaze. "You know quite a lot about them."

Tatyana glanced at her, her red eyes gaining a faint smile. "Who knows~?"

Meanwhile, Yasenia was almost biting her nails out of curiosity from the side. ’I want to know! Ugh!’

"Either way." Tatyana changed subjects, making the girls almost stomp the ground in frustration. "This orb is something we can’t take lightly. While its strength is limited by this Heavenly Layer, it doesn’t mean that the creature inside is weak."

"Creature... Inside...?"

Yasenia blinked a few times, and Tatyana pointed at the chain Yasenia was holding. "That’s not a metallic chain. That’s organic... Well, not organic in the truest sense, but it is made out of a living creature."

Yasenia glanced at it, and out of curiosity, she brought it to her mouth and...

CHOMP!

Her powerful teeth dug into the chain, and while everyone was looking at her with absurd gazes, the dragoness crunched the piece she chewed off. "Hm... Indeed. Munch, munch.... This is made out of a living being... munch, munch, munch..."

Tatyana burst into laughter, patting Yasenia’s head. "You are so cute, Little Treasure, hahaha."

Yasenia’s tail wagged, and she poofed into Tatyana’s arms, leaning down to nuzzle her face in Tatyana’s neck. Caressing her dearest, Tatyana looked at the orange orb and smiled. "Anyway, there is always a way to carry these special things that should not be touched carelessly."

A wave of her hand threw a complex talisman stuck in a circular formation. A second later, lights flashed, and green and black glowing rings appeared around the orange-glowing orb. With a flick of her finger, Tatyana brought the orb up and grabbed those rings.

"Done. Now we can move it around."

Angel clapped. "Wow~. Such a beautiful formation!"

Kali sighed. "It’s a shame that there are no talisman masters among us."

Yasenia blinked, her long eyelashes tickling Tatyana’s neck, and her tail pointed at around 12 maids. "They are Talisman Masters."

Her maids were multitalented and covered basically all spiritual professions! Cooks, Alchemists, Blacksmiths, Tailors, Talisman Masters, Physicians, Corpse Puppeteers... Tatyana, having nothing but time during her planning for Yasenia’s birth, selected the best of the best across the Sky Continent to become Yasenia’s 300 personal maids.

Separating from Tatyana, Yasenia pondered. "Now that I think about it... None of you are into Transmutation, are you?"

The maids paused, then flinched, and then their eyes widened as if the sky was about to collapse. All the maids knelt on the ground with a loud thud, their foreheads hitting the ground. "Young Miss, please punish our useless selves!"

Yasenia’s eyebrow twitched. "Rise before I punish all of you without any pampering for 10 years."

Dune and the rest blinked, and suddenly, all the maids were standing straight. ’H-Huh? When did they stand up?’

The speed was at a level that even Cecile and the other girls only noticed a flicker. Yasenia laughed and shook her head. "Well, it is indeed a hard and rare profession."

Tatyana clicked her tongue. "Are you humble-bragging? You are basically the only one here with talent for Transmutation."

Yasenia raised her eyebrows, her tail waggling arrogantly behind her. "Perhaps~. What can you do about it? Hehehe."

Evelyn took out a crystal and captured Yasenia’s adorably smug look at a rate of 10,000 photos per second.

"Anyway, we are straying from our objective." Yasenia returned to normal with a laugh. Then, she glanced at the chewed chain and orb. "What do we do with these two things?"

Valeria approached and crouched down to pick the chain from Yasenia’s hands. Being almost double Yasenia’s height, our tall dragon girl only reached the level of her waist. "Let me see, Yasenia."

Snake, seeing Valeria’s Yasenia-class breasts squeezing against her legs, gulped. "...Green, squishy mountains."

Yasenia gave it to her as she gave her impressions. "The chains are not completely natural. I could feel some Spiritually Forged materials within the metal. I think that someone experimented in mixing a spiritual artifact and a living creature."

"You are partially right. This, however, was not an experiment, but an accident."

Valeria leaned close, her face so close that she was at kissing range. It was a subconscious action to approach Yasenia closer. "See these spiritual lines here? These can only be created during a Heavenly Tribulation. Tribulation lightning probably struck during this thing’s creation, and being unable to bear it, those around it sealed it inside that orb... The traces here..."

Yasenia looked at Valeria’s close face, her lips arching faintly as she listened attentively. Not only her, but everyone else paid attention to the in-depth explanation.

"Thank you for explaining, Valeria."

Valeria smiled happily and turned to answer, only to realize just how close they were. Valeria’s green slit eyes trembled for a moment as she saw her own face reflected in Yasenia’s clear, golden slit eyes. Her heart thumped, an impulse to lean forward almost engulfing her completely.

These feelings lasted for a moment, but with the Nature Queen’s immense willpower, she managed to pull back and smile. "If you have any questions, tell me. I am more than willing to explain to you."

Yasenia nodded and looked away. Valeria felt a pang of disappointment for a moment.

"Alright, since everything is clearer now, let’s head back out and return a while later."

"That... is not possible," Mirrory spoke softly.

"Hm?"

The red-haired, green-eyed woman pointed at the orb in Tatyana’s hand. "That thing can’t leave the Forbidden Zone. The suppressing nature of this area is what’s keeping it inside."

Understanding where she was coming from, Yasenia couldn’t help but frown and sigh. "...So, no seeing my handsome Aster until we deal with this thing?"

"You can take turns going back, but you won’t be okay with that, right?"

Mirrory’s words were accurate. Yasenia would not leave a small group with that dangerous thing while she visited Aster. Her worries would make it impossible for her to stay still.

As for asking the maids outside to take Asterion inside, that was an option that didn’t even bother flashing in Yasenia’s mind.

So, giving the orange orb a glare, Yasenia shook her head and started her return journey to the surface. "Alright, we’ve explored everything that we needed to explore in this mansion. Let’s try to get over it quickly. Also, Anna, make sure that the maids outside tell Aster that we will be busy for a few years."

Just thinking of her baby boy making a sad face made Yasenia’s heart ache endlessly. ’Once I return, I’ll give him a thousand kisses per year I missed!’

With the resolution of quickly clearing things up, Yasenia’s group began a fast advance toward the middle. Dune, Scorpion, Snake, and Fennec followed along.

"Are you sure?"

Dune nodded. "We’ve guided you for a while, but honestly, there won’t be a better chance to explore the central area of the Death Dunes than accompanying you, Lady Yasenia. Let us follow. If we die on the way for being a burden, it is a Fate we are fine accepting."

Risk and Reward came hand in hand, and as an old cultivator, Dune knew this very well. Therefore, she also knew that there was no better chance to make a large breakthrough or find a powerful treasure than this journey with the powerful cultivators around her.

She, who was matched in strength by only about 10 others in the region, was now surrounded by a group of over 250, each stronger than herself. If she lost this chance, there wouldn’t be another one!

Snake and the other two thought along the same lines. In the end, almost no people at their level of strength had personalities that feared adventure and risk. Without appropriate opportunities, reaching their positions would’ve been hard, if not impossible.

The core area became turbulent as they approached. Sandstorms were almost more common than clear spaces. The Dune waves were churning like an enraged ocean, with the tallest ones looking like small, moving mountains.

If it were not for their speed and strength, these dunes would be enough to swallow most. For instance, Snake, Scorpion, and Fennec were starting to have a difficult time following along.

As veterans, they kept up through pure grit. Yasenia spoke to the rest. "This area... There are quite a few beasts, aren’t there? I thought that, as we approach the center, we’d encounter fewer of them."

Andrea agreed. "It seems that the beings who adapted lived near the central area, going out for food or to hunt down those entering the Death Dunes."

Cecile pulled the string of her feathered bow and pointed sideways. "Die."

Her arrow tore through a massive Dune Wave, skewering a beast that was approaching to ambush them.

Yasenia glanced over and frowned. ’These beasts are also quite fearless toward my bloodline pressure... The more you know, the more you understand why Forbidden Zones are usually off-limits areas.’

With that in mind, Yasenia’s eyes focused, searching for the area the map marked.