Arriving at Shang Qinqin's city went without much trouble. The city Shang Qinqin had built with her own connections, capital, and forces gathered during her 6,000 years of life was not to be taken lightly.
It couldn't really compare to a truly powerful force, but for an heir, it was not bad in the slightest.
When she arrived and settled down with Yasenia and the others, trouble knocked on the door.
"Young Miss Shang, please come out. Ancestor Shang wishes to see you soon."
The booming voice of the guard captain sent to pick up Shang Qinqin reached everyone inside the mansion. The girls had finished creating the teleportation formation, so they were quite lucky that the girl was not resting in the Dravory Dragon Valley.
Yasenia looked outside and then glanced sideways. "They are calling you."
Shang Qinqin smiled widely. "Let's go, Yasenia! Hehe. I knew he would call me."
Our dragoness blinked twice and pointed at herself. "Me too?"
Shang Qinqin grabbed her hands and pulled her up, hugging her arm and smiling widely. "Hehehe. Yes! I need you to block a few pesky flies for me so that we can be happy together."
Yasenia frowned for a moment. "Explain."
While walking outside, Shang Qinqin gave a brief summary. "I told you already that our family can be considered the strongest Merchant Family in the Central Area, right? We are at a position where even the Imperial Family covets our wealth. Therefore, one of the princes was bound to become my fiancé. I had kept it up in the air, but it seems that my last escapade with you has triggered Grandpa."
Yasenia looked at the girl dragging her by the arm and lifted her eyebrow. "So, you want to use me to deflect this arranged marriage?"
Shang Qinqin looked up with bright and honest eyes. "Of course! I will be your wife and mother of at least 30 of your babies! How can I be engaged to other people? Hehe. Don't you think our babies will be super cute~?"
Yasenia smiled somewhat helplessly. Shang Qinqin was the first in a long time to attack her this directly. Moreover, she couldn't just shrug her off. Also, after living together for over a decade, Yasenia had become slightly fond of this girl.
'I thought she would be somewhat cunning and secretive. Who knew that, one day, she came and basically blurted out everything with closed eyes?'
Yasenia had even learned that her favorite underwear was red thongs! After that, Yasenia's slight wariness toward Shang Qinqin drastically lowered.
Of course, love didn't blossom in her heart just because of that. Still, Yasenia did feel some fondness toward the girl who was so serious about gaining her love.
Pondering it, Yasenia sighed and nodded. "Alright, I will."
Shang Qinqin squealed in delight and jumped into her arms, giving Yasenia a big kiss on the cheek. "Hehehe. I love you!"
Yasenia patted her head and used her tail to place her back on the ground. "Alright. Alright. Let's go."
She didn't accept it without consideration. Even if she gained somewhat of a bad image in front of the Imperial Family, Yasenia already had her own cards to play. The Evil Heart didn't just leave a paradise-like cultivation land behind; he also left behind enough justification to label her own force as a "righteous" one.
Would the Imperial Family target the heroes who unearthed a hidden Evil Heart and almost defeated it? Yasenia smiled secretly. 'I already have you by the neck and we have yet to meet.'
In front of the one family that needed to keep the best "face" in front of everyone, Yasenia would be hard to deal with without hidden methods.
Either way, Shang Qinqin and Yasenia arrived outside and looked at the group of cultivators before them. Yasenia was somewhat surprised. 'Wow. Twenty individuals. One of them at the Ninth Level, four at the Eighth, and fifteen at the Seventh. It's a powerful lineup."
Shang Qinqin was also surprised. "Huh? Uncle Tian is here as well?"
The man Shang Qinqin called Uncle Tian was Shang Tian, one of the highest authorities within the Shang Family, and a Level Nine Transcendent. At this moment, though. He and the other nineteen individuals had failed to answer while staring blankly at Yasenia.
'Heavenly Beauty…'
Yasenia was wearing an elegant but casual purple dress, opened down the middle. The dress cinched at her slim waist and puffed out thanks to her wide hips. Her breasts, half exposed, captured the eyes, while her slender shoulders and beautiful arms created a perfect ratio for her otherwise voluptuous figure.
Her long, plump legs supported her entire upper body, and her faintly smiling expression, with those seductive dragon eyes and sweet lips, ensnared souls left and right.
The midnight-black hair, resting on one side in a simple yet thick braid, further highlighted her beautiful appearance. Finally, her ethereal dragon tail swished behind her like a long, celestial serpent, adding to her exoticness.
Shang Qinqin, noticing their blank stares, smiled proudly. 'Hehe. I can understand your feelings.'
"Ahen. Uncle Tian?"
Shang Tian blinked and escaped Yasenia's charm. His heart shook for a moment. 'I was… charmed?'
A Level Nine Transcendent, charmed? Not even the top beauties of the continent had managed something as ridiculous as this!
They could, naturally, charm people. However, they didn't absorb gazes as Yasenia did.
Looking at their linked arms, Shang Tian had a bad premonition. He asked, using his voice to snap the rest of the guards out of their daze. "Ahem. Who might this Lady be?"
While the rest of the guards snapped out of it with a start, Shang Qinqin answered proudly. "My future wife!"
Yasenia immediately bonked her head with her tail. Her mellow and attractive voice reached everyone, causing their bones to tingle. "You silly girl. We are not at that stage yet. So, don't jump to conclusions."
Shang Qinqin was somewhat confused as she rubbed her head. 'Huh? Didn't she agree previously?'
Yasenia, of course, had her reasons for speaking as she did. Instead of answering the confused Qinqin, Yasenia smiled faintly at them. "Excuse me for my late presentation. This one is Yasenia Dravory. I am a dragon who left her clan and made her nest in the Dravory Dragon Valley. I met Miss Qinqin by chance, and we became close. This mischievous girl has clung to me, asking me to marry her and whatnot. I am fond of her, but we have yet to advance in the relationship."
If she was too forward, there was a chance for the family to just try to silence her. Unlike the Imperial Family, the Shang Family was a merchant group. Getting rid of her would only cause mild backlash compared to what the Imperial Family would suffer.
Yasenia, therefore, aimed to be in an ambiguous position. Close enough to not be ignored, far enough to ensure that Shang Qinqin was still pure.
Moreover, Yasenia outwardly appeared female. So, for now, there would not be too much backlash until her gender was discovered.
Shang Tian, who was about to become hostile toward Yasenia, gained a complicated feeling instead. Shang Qinqin looked at Yasenia like a puppy whose master had just scolded it. It was more than obvious that Shang Qinqin was the one latching onto the absolute dragon beauty.
A headache came to him for a moment. 'This girl disappears for almost two decades and then returns with a country-toppling beauty attached to her? Moreover, she doesn't seem like someone easy to deal with…'
"...Regardless, Young Miss Shang needs to come with us and visit Ancestor Shang. That's his orders."
Yasenia nodded in Qinqin's stead. "We do not plan to stop it. However, may I insist in tagging along with my subordinates? I am new to this continent, and Miss Shang told me she wanted to show me around. It would be a shame if we separated and only saw each other after a few centuries."
A few centuries sounded like much, but it was a perfectly reasonable guess for someone at their level. Shang Tian had wanted exactly that. Send the dragon away for a moment, cook the rice, and then return.
That way, there would be no further complications. Sadly, the dragon was clearly not senseless enough to separate. 'She most likely wants to use our Shang Family to enter the Central Area sphere.'
Since Yasenia didn't hide her intentions, someone at Shang Tian's level easily read her. If he insisted on not carrying her along, things could work out. Sadly, Yasenia was about to hammer a nail he would not be able to lift.
"Also, I wanted to speak with the Imperial Family if possible. After we found a strange being named Evil Heart and almost defeated it, but they escaped somewhere. It has been on my mind for a bit. Sigh."
Shang Tian froze, his pupils shaking. He looked at Yasenia's slightly rueful expression. However, in that expression, Shang Tian could clearly see the way her golden slit eyes were glancing his way and asking. 'Well? What now? Do you still want to get rid of me?'
He swallowed the bitter smile about to appear on his lips and spoke. "...It will be a pleasure to have an important guest visit our Shang Family. I am sure Ancestor Shang will also want to hear about Lady Yasenia's concerning story."
Yasenia blinked, as if surprised. "Is that so? Then, let's depart in a day. I want to finish a few protective barriers to secure this place. Who knows, we might return soon."
Shang Tian forced a smile. "R-Right… Let's depart in 24 hours then."
Yasenia thus turned around, with a blinking Shang Qinqin in tow. 'W-Wasn't this my time to shine and show my wits!? Why did Yasenia suddenly become a master strategist!?'
Shang Qinqin had also thought along Yasenia's lines, but she wanted a touch more aggressive approach. After all, marking Yasenia as her wife would be ideal. Who knew that Yasenia could completely take over the conversation with just a few sentences and her presence?
'Wow! My future wife is so cool! At this rate, I might as well become a good mommy who stays behind and takes care of the babies while throwing everything to Yasenia! My future 41 children! Mommy will take care of you!'
Either way, Shang Qinqin's eyes sparkled when looking at Yasenia. If she had a tail, those walking behind would be having trouble walking forward from the strong winds created by the wagging.
For the following 24 hours, Shang Tian's group could only look in awe and stupefaction as Yasenia's group unleashed formations at a level they had never seen before. They also received a few pills of quality they had never seen before, together with a few other gifts.
Yasenia smiled leisurely. "It is just a few trinkets we can create at will. Do not feel burdened."
Collective thoughts: 'I am burdened! What do you mean by a few trinkets!? Each of these pills could challenge the sturdy first place of the [Myriad Alchemy Garden Sect]! Not to mention the formations!'
Tatyana's and Angel's way of drawing formations almost caused them to foam at the mouth. Seeing them draw around while perfectly calculating everything on the fly through sheer computational ability was an unseen method in the history of formation building in this world.
'We can't treat these people carelessly.'
And so, Yasenia's small little trick to become a mysterious hidden force became successful in a single masterful stroke.