Yasenia grabbed Skye and Estrella and hugged them like pillows, prepared to listen to Tatyana. The two relatively mature women blushed and didn't move, snuggling into their mother's comfortable and nice-smelling embrace.
Dawn looked at Estrella and laughed. "To think that our cold and battle-loving big sister can make such an expression. I almost forgot about it since you've barely smiled lately."
Yasenia's eyebrows faintly creased, showing a hint of worry when looking at her second eldest daughter. "Is that the truth, love?"
Estrella gave Dawn a glare, making the other snicker. All the sisters had a great bond thanks to the teachings of their mothers and their mutual love for their family. Therefore, even when some of them were quite ruthless and cold to outsiders, they never felt alienated or at risk when being together.
Estrella felt Yasenia's tail gently twist her head to look at her mother. "Don't glare at your sister, love. Tell me. Have you been feeling down?"
Estrella looked at her mother's enchanting golden slit eyes, and she buried her head in her neck, speaking somewhat sheepishly. "Well… I just felt a bit useless and needed to gain strength due to my lack of Spiritual Path… Just that. I am not unhappy; I like fighting."
Yasenia kissed her temple and smiled. "Good. Remember to tell us if you ever need help, okay?"
Tatyana interrupted with a gentle tone. "Little Treasure, let's speak with them later, okay? We don't know when you'll be pulled, so I need to explain the essentials so that you can at least traverse the Heavenly Layers without being deceived."
Skye hugged Yasenia tightly and smiled. "That's right, Mommy. Let's hear what Mama Tatyana has to say first."
Since even her daughter was saying that, Yasenia nodded and looked at her own mother. "Go ahead, Tatyana."
"Great." The Death Empress smiled. "Let's start on our current general location. We are in the second-to-last heavenly layer. There is another layer below ours, which contains only mortal worlds. No Transcendence Realm being can be born down there, and the biggest and strongest civilizations are actually technological ones. After all, without the sheer individual power of a Sixth Realm cultivator, a collective with strong technology can deal with Fifth Realm cultivators who had grown with mediocre resources."
This surprised Yasenia, but looking around, she noticed that no one was reacting. "Hm? Why are you dears not surprised? That's quite a bizarre truth!"
Andrea slowly caressed Dawn's hair as she answered with a smile. "We already know about all of this. While you were stuck in your cocoon for over 10 years, Tatyana, Mirrory, and Valeria already educated us on most of the general knowledge."
"Oh! So that's the case." She chuckled. "Here I thought that I was being overdramatic."
Evelyn grinned. "Your surprised face is quite adorable, so you are welcome to feel amazed more times."
The dragoness rolled her eyes with a faint smile in a truly charming motion. Dianna looked at Kali and giggled. "Mommy's every gesture is super charming. I can understand why Mama is so obsessed with her."
Kali hit her lightly with one of her fluffy tails. "Don't say nonsense. How am I obsessed?"
Dianna's curved eyebrows rose in an expression very similar to what Yasenia did when teasing others. "You have lately been struggling whether or not to create a pill to help you relive—"
"Ahhh! What are you saying!?" Kali's tails moved and surrounded Dianna's head, leaving her unable to speak further. Yasenia glanced at her fox with the same raised eyebrow and teasing smile. "Oho~, what type of pill might that be?"
"Nothing special." Coughed Kali. "Tatyana, why are you stopping your explanation? You should continue!"
Tatyana chuckled and decided to give a helping hand to her daughter-in-law. "Anyway, Yasenia. The Heavenly Layers are named in this manner. The lowest one is the Earthly Heaven. It is divided into low, mid, and high levels, with each having a different cultivation level. The weakest Heaven, an Earthly Low Heaven, can house up to peak-level Third Realm cultivators; an Earthly Mid Heaven can house up to peak-level Fourth Realm cultivators. Finally, an Earthly High Heaven can house up to peak-level Fifth Realm cultivators."
Yasenia hummed. "I see. This feels like it will be quite a long list."
Tatyana shrugged. "There really is no way of explaining it better other than blurting everything out. It is a bit tiresome, but it is what it is."
The others chuckled, and Yasenia listened attentively to what Tatyana said next. "The next level beyond the Earthly Heaven is the Exalted Heaven. The Exalted Heaven has three layers, each covering from the first level to the peak level of the Sixth Realm. The First Exalted Heaven Layer is the one we are in right now, and it covers up to the third level of the Transcendence Realm. The second one covers up to the sixth level, while the last one covers up to the half-step." Tatyana commented. "Our Sky Continent is in the highest layer of the Exalted Heaven. Still, because of its peculiarities, it can house much stronger beings like myself, something quite unique and one of the many reasons that the Demons are attacking that location."
Yasenia summarized it. "So, Exalted Heaven houses all Sixth Realm cultivators divided into three layers. However, the Sky Continent is a bit special and can house cultivators beyond the Sixth Realm."
"That's about it, yes." Tatyana smiled. "Let's move on to the next one. The Sublime Heaven is divided a bit differently, but not by much. There are still three layers, and each covers a major subrealm. So, the Sublime Low Heaven covers from the first to the third level of the Seventh Realm, the middle one from the fourth to the sixth, but the final one is where the difference occurs. The final layer of the Sublime Heaven covers from the seventh level up to the ninth. No half-steps can exist within the Sublime Heaven."
Yasenia tilted her head. "That's odd. Why the change?"
Tatyana chuckled. "Half-step Seventh Realm cultivators are… Well, let's say that they are monstrous in comparison. The reason is that one needs to touch upon some concepts unique to Eighth Realm cultivators to reach that level. Remember that as you go up each realm, the difficulty of battling across realms becomes increasingly larger. There is one specific layer to house those who have that strength. It is the Ancient Heavenly Layer. This layer can house everything from mortals all the way up to peak-level Seventh Realm cultivators."
Yasenia hugged her daughters closely, her face looking thoughtful. "So… The summary is, Sublime Heaven is for Seventh Realm cultivators, divided into 3 layers, while the Ancient Heaven is for those who have reached the peak of the Seventh Realm."
Evelyn laughed and looked at Tatyana. "Why do you not explain it like Yasenia? Do you like explaining things ten times more complicatedly?"
Tatyana rolled her eyes. "Her summary works because I've already explained them extensively. Don't act silly." She cleared her throat and spoke. "Those ten Heavenly Layers are what people call mortal and immortal layers, Ancient Heaven being the peak most cultivators aim to achieve."
Yasenia blinked. "Huh? Why is that?"
Tatyana looked sideways, and Mirrory appeared there. "I'll explain that part." The red-haired, green-eyed, curvaceous woman started simply. "After the disaster a million years ago, Heaven decided that Eighth Realm cultivators were too much of a threat. Therefore, it has become almost impossible to reach that level. Most people who are in the Eighth Realm right now are either survivors of the Heavenly Cataclysm or people who were on the verge of a breakthrough and took advantage of the aftermath Saint Fu Jing Jing left behind to benefit. Therefore, the Heaven above the Ancient Heaven and those below are somewhat excommunicated. Moreover, since Seventh Realm cultivators have already achieved semi-immortality, not many feel the rush to try and break through yet."
Yasenia nodded. "Right. Seventh Realm cultivators have a lifespan that rivals and sometimes surpasses stars."
Mirrory nodded and looked at Tatyana. Tatyana spoke. "The Heaven beyond the Ancient Heaven is, quite simply, the Divine Heaven. How it is divided after the Cataclysm is unknown, but before it, there were nine extra layers, with each layer able to house Eighth Realm cultivators of each level. So, the first layer for level one Eighth Realm cultivators, the second layer for level two and below… You get the gist."
Yasenia's eyes became thoughtful. "Divine Heaven…" Thinking about it, Yasenia glanced at Tatyana and asked. "What if I land there? After all, the Moon Goddess's call might be to that Heavenly Layer."
Valeria eased her worries. "That's not possible. At most, you will reach the Ancient Heaven in the worst-case scenario. Even if all miracles aligned for that woman, reaching the Divine Heaven is impossible due to her signal's lack of energy."
Yasenia stayed silent and leaned back on the soft couch, her arms gently patting Skye and Estrella. "Earthly Heaven, Exalted Heaven, Sublime Heaven, Ancient Heaven, Divine Heaven…" She couldn't help but chuckle. "My journey seems to be quite long."
Cecile asked, curious. "Are you planning on reaching the peak of cultivation?"
Yasenia sighed. "Honestly, I wouldn't want to pursue that objective actively. However, I feel that unless I continue pushing myself, danger will eventually reach me. After all, that Eighth Realm cultivator is still up there, ready to cause trouble. He won't rest since I've killed those he was helping."
Evelyn spoke without any conviction. "He might've used those two as entertainment. After he lost his toys, he might ignore us."
Andrea laughed a bit. "That's a very optimistic way of thinking. However, I don't think it will be like that. Moreover, Yasenia's soul is cursed, so we need to find something to erase it. That something won't be easy to find, and we'll need a lot of strength."
Yasenia's lips gained a wry smile. Then, she asked. "Speaking of which, Tatyana. How far can a person descend? For example, could I go to the Earthly Low Heavenly Layer if I suppress my strength to the peak of the Third Realm?"
"Can you even do that?" Tatyana laughed. "Suppressing one's cultivation realm is easier said than done. Regardless, even if you could, Heaven would probably be quite angry. So, unless you are confident in beating the crap out of that Heaven, I don't recommend it."
Yasenia's mind suddenly flashed with the image of Tatyana fighting Heaven when she first arrived at Distancia. "Ah. Now that makes sense. Otherwise, why would they have reacted so harshly to a level one Unification Realm body?"
"That's how it is!" Tatyana smiled. "Well, enough with the heavy stuff. What are your plans now, love?"
Yasenia blinked and spoke. "I need to share all of the treasures I was taking care of. That's the first step."
The girls blinked. Angel spoke timidly. "I-I almost forgot that Yasenia is storing many of my formation materials…"
The timid voice confused our dragoness, and she looked over. "Baby, are you okay?"
Angel's face turned completely red, and she squealed an answer. "Y-Yes! Why wouldn't I be okay!?"
Aurelia glanced at her mother and smirked. "Mama Angel, if you continue exuding so many pheromones, my nose will get itchy."
Angel's eyes widened, and she hit her shoulder. "C-Child! What are you saying to your mother!? ...Eh? Where is Aurelia?"
Yasenia's eyebrow twitched as she looked a few rooms over, where Aurelia was face-planted on the ground with twitching limbs. "Baby… Can you control your strength? Even if you are shy, hitting our daughter three rooms over through these hard walls is quite dangerous…"
Angel spluttered and then placed her hands on her face, fleeing the crime scene. Of course, she checked if Aurelia had suffered any true danger first with her spiritual sense. Sensing that they were just a few bruises, she fled.
Yasenia raised her eyebrow and chuckled. "Well, I'll go check on Angel. See you later~."
Following the hypnotizing hips of the dragon woman, Evelyn blurted quite bluntly. "She is going to fu—"
BANG!
A dragon tail appeared from space, ripping open a tear to slap her to the ground. Everyone's expression spasmed. 'What happened!?'