No one would have ever thought that the spiritual crystal could be used for the cultivation of the spiritual power.

Ana said as she placed the yellow spiritual crystal infront of Ananta.

Ananta grabbed the crystal and gave it a lick and it seemed like it had tasted something delicious. It suddenly opened it's mouth and swallowed the whole thing at once.

Ana exclaimed, rolling her eyes at Ananta.

Ananta grumbled in protest.

A few moments after swallowing the yellow spiritual crystal, Ananta began to writhing in pain. Ana then relayed her dragon spiritual power to her left arm and placed it on Ananta 's forehead. The dragon spirit mark around her left arm began to sparkle.

Ana took a deep breath and began cultivating grade six of Mysterious dragon skill.

The wild and violent spiritual power was now totally under Ana's control.

The spiritual flame in Ana's elixir field changed as well. The flame that was originally a musky colour now gave out a hint of red light, blending with the musky flame.

Everyone 's spiritual flame had one single colour, but Ana 's spiritual flame now had two. It was pretty much unheard of.

However, Ana was currently so engrossed in her cultivation that she did not notice the change in her spiritual flame.

‘ Ana murmured as she slowly opened her eyes.

Ana would have been ecstatic with joy and excitement by now, but she was calmer and cooler than before.

This miracle was just the beginning.

After tasting the sweet benefits that the spiritual crystal brought to her, she couldn't possibly stop now.

In the next two days, she tried cultivating with the help of the magical saliva along with the yellow spiritual crystal at the same time.

She knew fairly well that it was another highly dangerous thing to do. However, she was quite satisfied with the outcome.

Ana had reached grade seven of the mortal stage by the day before the Dragon Birth Festival arrived. Meanwhile, Ananta was now close to reaching the third grade of the three star level, making it almost invincible against those war beasts at it's same level.

‘ Ana contemplated. It would be impossible for her to get a hold of even one yellow spiritual crystal by herself. As she thought about it, she remembered Ananta was a great help in making all the progress.

If not for Ananta 's magical saliva, Ana would have had no chance in saving Marcia out of danger.

Ananta was really Ana's luck charm.

All of a sudden, the bamboo leaves rustled.

Ana turned around and saw a figure walking with a white tiger. It was Fiona and her cloud tiger. Every now and then, Fiona would walk the cloud tiger around the bamboo grove.

‘ Ana was teasing Fiona.

Fiona said.

Ana just remembered that Mia had mentioned it two weeks ago.

Fiona gave Ana a nod and then turned to leave with her cloud tiger. She stopped suddenly and turned to Ana.

‘ after that, she left.

Ana mused to herself and started practicing on the rock by the wood.

The following morning, she made it back to her room earlier. But Fiona was nowhere to be seen. It was not until she had changed her clothes that Fiona came back, sweating profusely.

‘ Ana asked.

‘ Fiona answered.

‘ Ana commented.

‘ Fiona didn't say anything else.

‘ Ana had heard on her way back that Fiona was already at the fourth grade of mortal stage. Her progress had impressed them all.

Fiona grew solemn as she had been carrying too much for too long. She could barely breath under such pressure.

Ana still did not get the meaning of her word and just gave a weak smile.

After some preparation, they headed for the assembly at Dragon field with Ananta and cloud tiger.

Most of the spiritual manipulators had already gathered on the field with thier war beasts. They all looked excited and eager to try. There were some who gathered around Bear, flattering him about his attainment of the fourth grade of mortal stage two days earlier than Fiona. They all believed Bear would win the contest hands down. So they eagerly sucked up to him.

When Ana and Fiona showed up, Bear looked at them ferociously. Clearly he was still holding a grudge against Ana.

Ana was used to this kind of arrogance, so she simply ignored Bear.

There were a couple of carriages packed by the sidelines as Mia took her deputies around.

When she noticed Ana's arrival, a weird look flashed through her eyes, but she regained her composer immediately.

Ana and Fiona along with the other trainees jumped onto thier carriages and the whole convoy left the dragon field slowly.

Fiona froze the second she heard the name.

‘ Ana asked when she noticed how her friend 's face lit up at the mention of the name.

‘ Fiona explained.

Ana squinted.

‘ Fiona said seriously. The reason she didn't mention it earlier was to protect Ana's ego and dignity. Now that Ana brought up Erica, Fiona had to explain.

‘ which of course was true. But it wouldn't have mattered to her. Ana was far stronger that Edgar right now. So Ana just smiled at Fiona's comment.

It only took her two months to reach seventh grade of mortal stage, from the first grade. Unbelievable! The achievement of Edgar and Erica paled in comparison.

Fiona was surprised at how calm Ana was when she talked about these prodigies.

As the carriages slowly came to a stop. Ana could hear the lively chatter from all around. They stepped out to a square decorated with lanterns and ribbons. The whole place was crowded today.

Looking around, Ana couldn't help but admire how smartly every one in the square was dressed. Most of them were high ranking families, ministers and other dignitaries and powerful spirit manipulators.

The whole square was heavily guarded with guards every where on the ground, and several royal spirit manipulators riding thier dragons on patrol.

‘ a beautiful and tender voice came calling the princess.

Ana turned and saw Lena approaching with two of her maids. Her stunning looks caught the attention of every one at the square.

‘ Ana greeted cheerily, the moment she saw Lena.

‘ Lena ignored all the curious looks from the crowd and walked straight to Ana.

‘ Ana smiled.

‘ Lena gushed.

‘ Ana pouted and pretended to be dissapointed.

Lens chuckled lightly and played along. She shook Ana 's hands and said,‘

Ana quipped. She then turned around to face her Teenage companions and shouted,‘

The teenagers eyes widened in fear. They all hurriedly shook thier heads. None of them dared to offend Ana.

‘ Ana said, glancing back at Lena with a big grin on her face.

Lena put her hand over her mouth to stifle a laughter.

Lena noticed that Amelia had morphed into a different person. She was energetic and even her personality had become bright and outgoing.

‘ Ana responded, cheerfully smiling.

‘ Lena encouraged.

Ana could not help but smile. Had Lena know that Ana had already reached grade seven of the mortal stage, what would be her reaction? Ana wondered.

‘ Lena 's handmaid reminded her.

‘ Lena responded, feeling somewhat dissapointed. She didn't meet Ana for a long time and wanted to spend some more time with her.

‘ she told Ana and left.

‘ Fiona said as she walked up to Ana.

‘ Ana said smiling.

‘ Fiona had frequently heard about Lena but never properly met her. Coupled with the fact that Lena had a special identify, very few people could come near her.

However, once Fiona saw that Lena was actually very approachable. She stared to have a better impression of her.

‘ Ana teased.

Fiona rolled her eyes and sneered at Ana. She then turned around and began to walk away.

‘ Ana loudly said, laughing as she approached her friend.

A few minutes later, the teenagers including Ana, were led to the makeshift resting shed where Mia was already eagerly waiting for thier arrival.

Mia ordered them to bring thier war beasts to the stable to be fed while they tested in the shed.

Ana and the rest of the teenagers had just returned to the makeshift resting shed when they suddenly heard a commotion coming from the direction of the passage that lead to the square.

Ana hastily looked around and soon found the Emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire, Lena and the Priest Dean walking alongside two women in brocade phoenix robes. The women in the left seemed to be about forty years old. She was aging but she had a well maintained beauty. She also exuded of powerful authority. Being a spirit manipulator at Divine stage. She was Felicia Feng, the imperial preceptor of the Magical Phoenix Empire.

The women on the right was much younger, probably in her early twenties. She looked divine in her white brocade. However, as beautiful and exquisite her face was, it showed no emotions.

She was the one who was causing all the commotions. She had stolen everyone 's attention. She was none other that Erica Duan, the best spirit manipulator among the young generation in the Magic Phoenix Empire.

Felicia was Erica's master.

It was quite natural that her arrival at the square would cause an uproar.

A/n: This chapter was really long 😆😆

My question for you today is....

What is love according to you?