Heaven, Earth, Me

The warship was quick to travel through the vastness of space. Yasenia didn't bother to cultivate; instead, she focused on observing the vast darkness of space. When one was in a world where the atmosphere reflected light, seeing stars was easy. Here, without air to reflect those lights, everything was dark except one location: the Sun. Yasenia smiled faintly. "Quite ironic."

Doriel, standing by her side, asked. "What's ironic, Young Miss?"

Yasenia hummed. "When we are in a world, the sky is full of lights, making you think that everywhere outside would look like that. However, instead, what do we have?"

Doriel looked outside and answered. "Darkness, Young Miss."

Yasenia nodded. "Darkness… Looking up from the bottom of a pond makes everything outside the pond look desirable. But, once outside, what awaits you is a bigger pond with a bigger sky that you admire." 

Doriel answered. "Cultivation is considered an endless path. There is always someone stronger, something stronger, or even a whole new place where your strength becomes average." 

Yasenia agreed. "Right. That's why I was thinking, what if understanding my ninth level of the Celestial Intent is not about understanding the cosmos but… the lack of it?"

Doriel tilted her head. "Lack of… cosmos? Aren't we inside the cosmos, Young Miss?"

Yasenia hummed. "Yes. Everything is the cosmos. But…" Yasenia extended her hand, trying to feel the energy of the cosmos. "... Why is it so hard to perceive? Even with my affinity, I can only see something when I activate my skills."

Yasenia activated [Celestial Intent Level 8], and her aura shifted, mixing with the surroundings and making her presence more difficult to perceive. At the same time, Yasenia's eyes captured the hidden beauty of the Universe. The black sky was suddenly alight with countless stars. Her vision, now able to capture a much wider range of light, was able to observe the true beauty of the seemingly empty cosmos. 

Doriel blinked twice, trying to capture Yasenia's presence but finding it somewhat slippery, even when she was standing by her side. 'Incredible. If Young Miss jumped ship and wanted to disappear… I don't think we would be able to find her. Her connection with the cosmos is increasing at a staggering pace.'

Yasenia looked around, her eyes observing everything around her. "Hm… strange… What's that?"

Doriel looked in the direction Yasenia was looking at, seeing nothing. The dragoness commented. "It is like… A big, multicolored cloud."

Doriel tilted her head. "I heard that big clouds in space are usually places where spatial life is plenty. However, they were never described as multicolored. Most cultures call them Nebulas. Some nebulae are like forests."

Yasenia nodded. "I feel that I heard that not long ago…" The dragoness rubbed her chin and asked. "Will we go there next?"

Doriel pondered. "It's probably too dangerous, Young Miss. The number of Star Beasts in a Nebula is incredibly high." 

Yasenia tilted her head. "I see. Navigating those places should be interesting, right?"

Doriel smiled faintly. "From what I heard, only Transcendent Realm people dare do that. Well, we have this warship, so it's not an impossible thing."

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Alaia scoffed. "But unless it is necessary, we should avoid those areas!"

Yasenia laughed faintly. "Okay, okay. How much time until we arrive home?"

Alaia commented, looking at the solar system's map. "Around ten more minutes at most. Does Young Miss want to do something before we arrive?"

Yasenia tilted her head. "How about we take a big asteroid and plant it in the Sect? Who knows, a disciple in the future might learn something from the cosmic energy that they have."

Alaia laughed. "Sure. We can do that."

The warship slowed down, and then, Alaia drove it toward a place with a lot of asteroids that were orbiting the Solar System. 

Yasenia looked at them and commented. "They are quite large, aren't they?" 

Doriel hummed. "They are not much bigger than a mountain… Well, except that one over there."

Everyone followed Doriel's gaze and saw a massive piece of rock spinning very slowly. Yasenia smirked. "Let's get that one."

Kali asked, speechless. "Why do you want such a big piece of rock? That's taller than our mountain!" 

Yasenia shrugged. "Why not? We can place it outside the sect and let the sect disciples explore it. Who knows if someone will find an opportunity in it? We can even create a few entrance tests for the sect that involve it." 

Kali sighed. "Sure, sure."

Yasenia laughed and took out her sword, mounting it and flying toward the giant asteroid. When she landed on it, she was surprised that it wasn't as solid as she expected. 'Huh?'

Looking down, she saw her feet sink into the gravel-like surface. "Hm…" Yasenia asked toward the warship. "Will this thing even maintain its structure back in Distancia? I feel that it will crumble down like a sand structure."

Kali asked, curious. "Is it that brittle?"

Yasenia kicked the surface lightly, sending a big cloud of pure gravel upward. "See?"

"Hoo?" Kali smiled. "That's quite interesting. What quality do you think the material it is made of is?"

Yasenia used her spiritual sense and shook her head. "Around… Magic-Ranked? Not much better, to be honest."

Kali hummed. "That's quite useless… Should we find a better one, Yasenia?"

Yasenia shook her head. "No, Magic-Ranked is perfect. It will not make other sects covet this big piece of rock. After all, who would want to fight us for a chunk of Magic-Ranked material?" 

The dragoness's energy surged toward the spatial ring, and an invisible aura spread from it, covering the entire thing. Yasenia poured quite a lot of energy into it since this was a mountain-sized item. Then, after it surrounded it, the asteroid disappeared from sight. 

Yasenia flapped her wings twice out of reflex, thinking she would fall, but instead, she flew upward. Yasenia blinked. "Ah… Right. No gravity around these places."

The maids laughed, seeing their Young Miss shot upward involuntarily. Kali sighed. "Go catch your Young Miss. She is so dorky sometimes."

Alaia laughed. "Understood, Madam."

The warship moved through space and caught up to Yasenia. The dragoness had her legs and arms crossed, flying upward in a strange position. Kali asked with a sigh-like smile. "What are you doing, love?" 

Yasenia blinked. "Why did I shoot upward?"

Kali blinked. "There is no gravity. Isn't it normal to fly upward?"

Yasenia tilted her head. "Don't I fly because I move air? There is no air to move here, and the cosmic energy is also very difficult to interact with to flow through my wings, no?"

Kali shrugged. "It seems that it is not. Have you even tried flying before? You just moved with your sword or the warship through space."

Yasenia looked at Kali and commented. "I want to try flying… Can I? My wings… scales… skin? Everything seems to be able to 'swim' through this nothingness."

Kali laughed. "Why are you asking? Go ahead."

Yasenia rolled her eyes. "The last time I went on a little trip without asking, I had trouble sitting down for a few days." 

Kali's lips arched, amused. "Go, go. We'll be right behind you."

Yasenia nodded, and her energy started flowing around her. They all expected to see the usual giant dragon appearing, but they were confused when Yasenia took her time transforming. 

Kali asked, confused. "Is everything okay, love?" 

Yasenia answered. "I think… I can breakthrough to the ninth level…" 

Kali blinked. "Huh? How?"

Yasenia muttered. "During this transformation… I am not only using my energy. I can feel myself absorbing the cosmic energy…" 

Valeria's eyebrow raised. "You are actually mixing your body with the cosmic energy? That's something only Star Beasts can do."

Yasenia muttered. "Say, Valeria. What if I wasn't a beast all along but a Star Beast?"

Valeria paused and got thoughtful. "The only difference between Star Beasts and other beasts is the way they interact with cosmic energy. As I explained before, Star Beasts have trouble living in worlds because the energy there is too different. It's like a fish going out of the water." Valeria commented. "You've had no trouble breathing 'Outside the water.' So, I doubt that you are one."

Yasenia was puzzled, still feeling how the cosmic energy was trying to mix with her transformation process. "But, the cosmic energy is truly mixing with me, Valeria. This didn't happen the other time I transformed. What's different- Ah." Yasenia looked into herself. "My soul is different."

Instead of the large and uncontrolled mess that it was before, Yasenia's soul was now compact and with a clear shape. "Is my soul able to absorb and digest cosmic energy?"

Valeria frowned and then said. "That… If that's the truth, then you might have an affinity for cosmic energy. Some beasts are born with that. However, it takes centuries, even millennia, to master using cosmic energy. They don't just… I don't know, instinctually merge with it like you are doing. How do you feel when you allow the cosmic energy in?"

Yasenia's body, very slowly transforming into the dragon form with each second that passed, had already become a ten-meter-long dragon. And, for now, Yasenia was not feeling any kind of discomfort. "I feel comfortable. Valeria, I might not be able to stop later, so do I or do I not continue with this?"

Everyone focused on the tall woman. Valeria pondered for a few seconds, observing Yasenia's body as deeply as she could. After a while, she sighed. "I don't know. Follow your instincts, Yasenia. You are a new species, and we know little about you. Just allow your body to guide you."

Yasenia nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on the Cosmic Energy in the surroundings. The composition was very different from Celestial Energy, even when they were both similar to a degree. 

Both energies originated in the cosmos and were part of what people called "space." However, Celestial Energy was unique and only able to be used by people who had understood the Celestial Path to a profound degree. Yasenia, being the bearer of Celestial Energy itself, had a natural advantage in comprehending it. 

Meanwhile, Cosmic Energy was something like the "atmosphere" of the void. A raw energy that almost no one could use because it was too homogeneous. If someone absorbed it, trying to purify, for example, fire energy from the cosmic energy was almost impossible. The body didn't like a fuel that it couldn't decompose or digest. 

Even then, Yasenia had shown a terrifying pace at which she got accustomed to it. Therefore, Valeria was quite sure that, while Yasenia wasn't a real Star Beast, she could be considered an amphibian. A beast that could digest both normal air and cosmic air.

As Yasenia absorbed the Cosmic Energy, her dragon form changed slightly. The change was not in shape, but in size. 

As the dragoness grew in size, quickly overtaking the Warship, the maids and the others had their eyes slowly growing wider. Before, Yasenia's total length was approaching three kilometers. However, her current size when the transformation ended was well past that. 

Kali looked at the gargantuan dragon with her mouth agape. "What in Heaven's name…? She has reached thirty kilometers in length… Isn't she larger than Lord Boreas, the Ice Phoenix Patriarch?"

Valeria commented. "Star Beasts are so large in the first place because they don't really have size constraints in space. Another reason was speculated to be that the Cosmic Energy allowed for rapid growth. After all, while it is toxic for normal cultivators, the amount of energy in Cosmic Energy is actually very high." 

Kali pointed at Yasenia, who was slowly opening her eyes. "But this is ridiculous! Her size has literally multiplied by TEN!" 

Yasenia looked around after her transformation, and she was astounded. "What… Why does space suddenly look so… full of things?"