After nodding to Cai Xue, the woman stepped forward and silently rested her hands on Yasenia's back. Then, she began moving her fingers and massaging her tense back muscles.
The dragoness hummed, her thoughts going back to her experience in the Dragon City. "Now that I have a comparison, that woman's technique was truly marvelous."
Cai Xue was doing a great job, but she didn't relieve the stress as pleasantly as that dragon woman. The maid heard Yasenia mutter and asked, puzzled. "Are my techniques not satisfactory, Lady Yasenia?"
The dragoness rested her chin on the back of her hands and shook her head. "It's not like that. They are good. It is just that I once went to a city of Dragons. There, I met a masseur whose skills were truly extraordinary."
Cai Xue hummed. "I understand."
The bed below Yasenia was very spongy and even had extra formations inscribed to mold around the person lying on it, fitting the person perfectly. So, she was not bothered at all. Her tail moved up and down, dragging across the bed and wagging side to side as she relaxed.
The maid's eyes couldn't help but move toward the playful tail, finding it extremely cute. 'It looks so soft… Ahem. Do not have strange thoughts about your mistress, Cai Xue!'
After an hour and a half, Yasenia opened her eyes and smiled. "That's enough for now. This massage has stimulated my meridians. So, I should go cultivate right now. Do not let anyone bother me in the meantime. It will take… one week or so."
Cai Xue nodded and slowly stood up. "Please, come over here. I will help you change your clothes and do your hair. Would you like to take a bath before going to feel refreshed?"
Yasenia paused and rubbed her chin. "Actually, yes. I would like to. I will prepare the water, though. Be careful when being nearby since it can hurt you."
Cai Xue blinked, confused, but she nodded nonetheless.
After getting the garden, she searched through it and found the paired flowers to the [Star River Rose]. They were the [Sun Pond Rose] and [Moon Lake Rose].
The number of exotic flowers that could help her with her usual bath was not limited to those, though. So, after selecting a few, she applied the principles of body refinement to choose an entirely new set of bathing herbs.
Cai Xue followed Yasenia to the bath and then helped her get out of her clothing. Yasenia was wearing a comfortable robe, so it took little effort to reveal her naked body. This time around, she didn't bother keeping the panties. After all, Cai Xue was a maid, so she didn't have to be careful in any way.
To say that the appearance of the sleeping dragon startled Cai Xue would be an understatement. Nevertheless, she put on a professional expression and moved around busily, not minding it.
Yasenia ignored the twitches in the woman's expression. 'She is well trained. That's great.'
Completely naked, Yasenia walked forward and approached the outdoor pool. The place was natural, surrounded by rocks. The almost transparent water reflected the rocky floor, creating a depth that would reach right above her chest while sitting.
"Great bath."
She couldn't help but praise it once. Cai Xue didn't answer, standing at the side and straining her eyes so that they didn't wander around the ridiculously seductive woman.
Then, Cai Xue noticed Yasenia waving her hand and pouring a set of herbs into the natural hot spring. She warned lightly. "Um, Lady Yasenia. These hot springs are connected to a Spiritual Mine. So, the water is already quite nourishing. Too many herbs might upset the balance and cause it to lose its properties."
The dragoness smiled. "Thank you for warning me. Don't worry, though. I know what I am doing."
Since Yasenia said so, Cai Xue returned to becoming part of the surrounding scenery. Usually, she would've also taken off her own clothes to serve Yasenia in the water. But since the dragoness told her not to enter, since she might hurt herself, she decided to wait.
"Alright. And now, I add the fluids of the Star River, Sun Pond, and Moon Lake Roses."
Three liquids poured out from her hand, each with a peculiar color. As they touched the water, they appeared to react, on the verge of exploding from the conflicting Yin and Yang energies. Nevertheless, before Cai Xue could warn Yasenia, the dragoness poured her Celestial Energy into the mix.
When the pure Celestial Energy touched the water, everything froze. The reaction came right after.
Spiritual Energy from several kilometers around poured into the water, increasing its quality several times over. The effects were noticeable from outside, but no one went to confirm since they felt that it was not dangerous.
The Death Saintess, who was currently in the midst of getting to the bottom of what happened in the Secret Realm, looked over once at her peak before looking away.
After ten minutes of absorbing energy madly, the effects relaxed, creating a constant but gentle flow. "Perfect."
Cai Xue saw Yasenia take a step forward, and her eyes widened. "L-Lady Yasenia!?" She stretched her hand, quickly stopping the dragoness. "You can't enter these waters! The energy purity is too high, and you will only hurt your body!"
The maid was also a Transcendence Cultivator. When looking at this water, she felt that if she dared step inside, it wouldn't be her who absorbed the water's energy, but the other way around!
She was also not wrong. Even one single Star River Rose was able to harm cultivators at the early stages of the Transcendence Realm, not to speak about a mix of three of its kind, then boosted by hundreds of other flowers and Yasenia's Celestial Energy.
Still, the dragoness chuckled and smiled. "Do not worry. This won't hurt me."
Even as she said that, Cai Xue was honestly too fearful. She shook her head quickly. "I… Sorry, Lady Yasenia. I really can't. I don't want Lady Yasenia to hurt herself."
The dragoness showed a helpless expression. After a few moments of thinking, she sighed. "How about a compromise? I will enter the waters slowly, and if you feel that I am in danger, you pull me out."
The maid became conflicted, but looking up at the reassuring silver eyes, she eventually nodded. "...Alright."
Yasenia smiled faintly, her cold facial features lighting up slightly. "Great." Still, as she was about to step inside, she warned. "By the way. This will hurt a lot, so I might show pained expressions. Even then, I want you not to panic and see if my body is being hurt or nourished."
With that said, she didn't give Cai Xue a chance to answer before she took a step forward. The second her foot entered the water, Yasenia's body twitched and her expression tightened. 'Oh, Heavens. I feel as if my skin is melting…!'
Even then, she tightened her resolve and quickly dropped down onto the water. As her body dipped inside, her muscles twitched madly, and her facial expression crumbled as she bit down to not scream in pain.
This was probably one of the most painful refinements she had gone through.
Cai Xue could feel the distress, so her hands twitched a lot, wanting to pull her out. However, even as she focused, there was no sign of damage. Instead, the energy in the water was drilling violently into Yasenia's skin, muscles, bones, organs, and meridians. Even when it was brutal, the effect only nourished the dragon woman.
After Yasenia submerged her head, the water seemed to have found a prey that it had to digest and rushed all of its energy with that intention.
Pain.
Pain so harsh that it felt as if a thousand blades were slashing through her skin. It was so deep that it made her think her bones were breaking and her muscles melting. Her eyes, sensitive body parts, and even her insides all felt as if a thousand searing hot nails were piercing her.
Any cultivator would've fainted or screamed and jumped out of the water a few seconds in. However, Yasenia didn't.
Instead, she curled into a ball to remain underwater and began meditating as best as she could.
During the first two hours, the pain was so obscene that even someone like Yasenia couldn't focus. However, that didn't last. As her mind steeled, her focus increased, and she entered a meditative state.
Ten hours in, Cai Xue noticed the energy stirring all around. The constant gentle flow increased, torrents of energy flowing into the water and rushing at Yasenia. The flow of energy transformed into a river, then a whirling, and finally a giant vortex that soared to the sky.
The maid opened her little mouth as the dragon devoured all the energy of the world that she could. It felt greedy, voracious, and endless in appetite, as if the sin representing gluttony had manifested.
The Death Saintess and other elders were startled by the events, but after a few looks, they ignored them. After all, they knew that it came from the new resident in the Death Saintess's mansion.
Two weeks later, twice as long as Yasenia had expected, the vortex began to slow down. The stream of energy that Yasenia greedily sucked in vanished during the course of three more days. Once gone, the dragon woman opened her eyes slowly.
'Finally…'
That was a torturous experience. The previously whitish-blue water was now full of impurities, turning almost black. As Yasenia slowly rose from the water, the water and impurities slid down her body.
Cai Xue, having not stepped out a single step from her initial position, quickly approached and summoned a clean bath. "Please, Lady Yasenia. Step inside."
The dragoness was exhausted, so she nodded tiredly. Seeing her current state, the maid waved her hand, becoming naked and entering the water together with Yasenia. The dragoness only glanced at her once before closing her eyes.
"I will now cleanse your body, Lady Yasenia. Please relax."
Yasenia sighed and did as told. Cai Xue gently hugged the dragoness's body and used towels and her hands to wash off the impurities in her body and hair. She didn't even twitch at the smell of the impurities, as she dutifully completed her maid tasks.
As she gently and soothingly bathed the dragon, she noticed that Yasenia's body softened at one moment. "Hm?" Curious, she looked at the side and noticed Yasenia's closed eyes and stable breathing.
This surprised her more than anything else. 'She forced her mental strength to resist pain so much that she actually fell asleep naturally?'
Chills ran down Cai Xue's spine as she looked fearfully at the water. 'If I entered there… I would've died.'
With torturous methods, though, Yasenia managed to stabilize her cultivation completely and even make significant progress. Once she woke up, she would only need to deal with her new treasures.