When that woman appeared, the group of nine that came with Yasenia showed a multitude of expressions. Those who were convinced by Yasenia felt as if they had just swallowed a bug, and they were praying to all they believed in so that this person wouldn't make things more complicated than they were.
Meanwhile, the others felt proud and looked at Yasenia disdainfully. Now that there was someone who had actual influence in the Death Empress's matters, they were naturally eager to see Yasenia, someone they thought was exaggerating her influence, humbled a step.
Yasenia, on the other side, showed no fear. "Who are you? I am talking to the Sect Master. If anyone has anything to say about my wrongs, then he will be the one."
The woman who arrived looked at Yasenia coldly and snorted. "Above him, it is me. You don't even know such a simple fact, yet you dare to run off at the mouth? As expected of a young cultivator, newborn calves are not afraid of tigers."
Hearing her words and seeing her attitude, Yasenia sighed inwardly. 'While I understand that Mom must've been hasty, there shouldn't be someone incompetent placed in such an important position, right? Mom has always had good eyesight for talent and personality… I think.'
So, after pondering for a second, Yasenia looked at the woman and spoke. "My name is Yasenia Dravory, senior. I hope we can have a respectful talk."
To her delight, when she presented herself, the woman flinched for a moment, her eyebrows creasing before returning to normal. Sadly, before Yasenia could feel happy, she noticed a strange chill flash in her eyes.
Yasenia's lips twitched. 'Did my gamble fail? Is this person someone like Shen Baihu, but with a lot more influence?'
After a few suffocating seconds, the woman finally answered. "I am the Blue Pearl World's Death Saintess, appointed personally by Lady Death Empress. My exalted name is Xing Jimie. Follow us inside."
Yasenia hesitated. The woman's strange attitude made her wary of stepping into the Astral Death Sect. 'I… don't really have any other option. There will be many people knocking on my door soon.'
So, while keeping the talisman firmly hidden between her soft breasts, Yasenia stepped forward with beautifully sashaying motions. She ignored the woman and looked at the man. "Lord Sect Master, are you the Seventh Realm cultivator guarding this sect?"
The emaciated man nodded slowly as he followed everyone inside. "I am indeed one of the Law Creators in this sect. Lady Death Saintess is another one."
"Oh? There are multiple?" Yasenia was somewhat surprised. "How many are there in the Astral Death Sect?"
"Rude child." The woman at the front looked over her shoulder, her fair and beautiful face showing a deep chill. "Since you know that our strength is vastly superior, shouldn't you be acting reverently?"
A sigh almost broke through Yasenia's calm facade. 'Aren't these people tired after living so many years? Always acting so… stiff. I thought that Seventh Realm people would be more casual since the high from becoming an immortal cultivator would've simmered down. Did the new breakthrough inject chicken blood into their system or something?'
Even when she was thinking this, her tone remained calm and measured, her lips arching into a polite smile. "Lady Death Saintess, I am being polite and proper. Would you really be comfortable with my speech becoming stiffer as I add a myriad of titles whenever I speak of each of you? Please, be understanding and treat my actions as a failure to show proper manners from a junior."
The Sect Master showed a hint of interest. 'Beautifully structured. It really leaves no way to not answer rudely other than agreeable responses.'
Xing Jimie showed a displeased look before speaking. "I admit I was a bit too hasty, junior. However, you must understand that not all mighty people are as understanding. Someone might answer violently out of humiliation, and by then, you will be the one at a loss. It won't matter that you are right if you end up injured or worse, isn't that right?"
Yasenia blinked and smiled. "This junior understands."
Xing Jimie frowned and sighed, pushing the gates leading into the sect lightly. "Follow me. You will become a Core Disciple of our academy. While your strength is enough to rival some elders, that doesn't mean that your age does."
The dragoness was curious. "Do people need to be over a certain age to qualify as elders?"
Xing Jimie gave a look to the Sect Master. The gaunt man smiled, his cracked lips appearing as if they were about to bleed. "While in the cultivation world might may mean right, inside a structured power, that isn't always the case. Naturally, those at the top are not always bound by the same rules, but maintaining a semblance of laws until a certain level is what differentiates us from wild beasts."
Yasenia pondered for a second and eventually agreed. "I always seem to look too high up. There are people who will never be able to break through certain limits, remaining at a relatively low level where strength alone is insufficient to solve the core problems."
The Sect Master showed a pleased look. "That's right. You are talented, and your potential is boundless. Anyone can understand that just by looking at you once. That's why there are so many jealous people around you, so many talented youths who want to possess you. Haven't you always experienced similar situations? You are just like a light to moths. Even if they know they'll burn, they can't help but get closer to it."
The dragoness smiled, feeling quite comfortable when speaking with this senior. "This might come off as rude, but what name does senior have? Of course, if you prefer to be referred to as Sect Master, I would comply."
The man laughed twice. His voice sounded dry and unpleasant, yet there was a pacifying atmosphere around him. Yasenia chuckled in her mind. 'It's like looking at a grandpa…'
"It has been a long time… hasn't it? Everyone usually calls me Lord Death Poison, but you can call me Grandpa Hei Lin. While your body has a scorching Yang energy that feels as if it would damage me, there is Yin energy just as powerful surrounding your presence." Hei Lin looked Yasenia up and down, sighing emotionally. "Truly, those blessed by the Heavens are extraordinary down to their very last detail."
The dragoness smiled wryly. "I do not believe Heaven likes me a lot, Grandpa Hei Lin. If you witnessed my Heavenly Tribulation, you would probably think similarly."
The man chuckled. "Perhaps. But at a first glance, you seem greatly blessed by strength, talent, and resources that allow those to bloom with unmatched splendor."
As they all walked down the main street, Yasenia noticed everyone stopping to pay respects in their direction. This made her realize something. "Speaking of which, Lady Death Saintess."
"Speak." The woman spoke coldly.
Yasenia didn't mind the tone. "May I ask… Why would someone of your status come to receive us?"
The woman frowned and looked back. "Why? Do you feel uncomfortable with me around?"
Yasenia shook her head. "I just didn't expect both Lord Sect Master and Lady Death Saintess to come receive an expedition of ten elders."
This was indeed out of the norm. At most, some influential elders would have received them. The arrival of these two meant that they were actually waiting for it. Hei Lin looked once at the Death Saintess before speaking. "Actually, we were entrusted by Lady Death Empress to…"
"Hei Lin." The woman leading the way cut in with a frosty voice. "She is not someone qualified to know that information."
Yasenia blinked and smiled to herself. Then, she muttered lightly. "So Lady Death Empress had you search for someone…"
This time, both of them paused and turned to look at Yasenia simultaneously. The Death Saintess looked at Yasenia dangerously. "Where did you hear something like that? If you do not clarify, your end won't be pleasant."
Yasenia saw that even Hei Lin looked confused, so she shrugged. "I guessed. Your reactions confirm it, though."
Behind her, Fu Weiyang and the others felt as if they were standing on pins and needles. 'My great-grandaunt, please don't poke these two people so much! It is making the immortal heart regain its mortality.'
The Death Saintess's cold gaze congested for a second before she turned her head, relieving everyone from the weight of her cultivation. "Follow silently. We will talk in depth once we arrive at the main hall and gather with the others."
The dragoness smiled internally. 'Two months, right?... I have to act cautiously. Perhaps she might be delayed by something and arrive much later.'
For the rest of the journey, Yasenia kept silent and observed the surroundings. While this was a sect specialized in handling those with Death Energy affinities, she could see others who had it as secondary energies. Death Energy, being one of the rarest ones to have, meant that the number of disciples would always be very limited. Proportionally, around 1 in 1,000 cultivators had a Death attribute affinity.
Thankfully, those with this specific attribute had means that allowed them to fight multiple people at once. One of them was their natural control of unlife. Yasenia could see that among those walking, there were people with no vital signs. In other words, they likely exchanged their life energy and fully manifested as undead.
The place they walked to was a relatively simple crypt, magnified several times and surrounded by boundless Death Energy. Usually, anyone with Yang-related affinities would feel weak and sluggish in these areas.
Yasenia, on the other hand, focused on surfacing her Yin energy. As she did so, her temperament also changed. Very slowly, her calm expression turned frosty, and her golden slit eyes lost their warm luster. Instead, once looking at them, there was a trace of a chill in them that forced goosebumps on the onlooker.
Even the feeling of her overall beauty changed. It shifted from a passionate and alluring flame that seemed to invite all to burn and melt in her soft embrace to an unapproachable and noble feeling that promised to break the hearts of all who dared approach her.
The change was not small, capturing the attention of the people walking by her side. This time, even the two Law-Creators were surprised. 'Such a sublime control over her energy… Is it even possible to have such profound control and understanding at her young age?'
Yasenia ignored their looks, though. Outward change also signified inner change. So, from her previous relatively softer and warmer outer personality, she became much more aloof and distant.
Hei Lin couldn't help but ask, curious. "Are you okay, Young Yasenia?"
Yasenia glanced at him, and her lips arched minutely, the cold look not disappearing. "I am. Do not worry about the changes."
Yu Xiaolian was startled. "Yasenia, your eyes?"
The golden color was slowly changing into a gorgeous silver from the edge of her vertical pupils. After she finished transforming, the black-haired, silver-eyed dragon beauty truly captured the aloof allure of the moon. "My body has both Yin and Yang. I am more accustomed to a balance, but here it will benefit me more to place my Yin as the guiding force. As I said, do not worry. Nothing bad is happening."
Hearing her speak in an indifferent tone made them subconsciously agree. There was a sense of pressure in her words that was difficult to ignore.