A few days passed, and Yuki and Nana were already about to hit the astral star realm. They were both at the peak of the twelfth fate star. In order to progress, they would need to undergo their tribulation.

During this time, both Yuki and Nana got used to Silvia’s presence while they were intimate. They had also been training to refine rank one healing pills. Each day brought about a new change within the girls and allowed them to expand their knowledge. 

Yuki and Nana stood on their flying swords and looked down at the desolate area below them. “Nana, I do not care how many times you beg. You can not sit next to Yuki during your tribulation.”

“Master, I can not let Yuki deal with something so dangerous! People die when they reach their tribulations!” Nana was being very stubborn. When it came to Yuki’s safety, she did not care what anyone said!

“Nana, it is very rare for anyone to die during their tribulation for the astral star realm. It is basically a small shock. At most, she may get a sharp zap!” Elder Nishikawa held her head. She had never met such a stubborn dragon girl! 

“But….” Nana could not let it go! She would rather hug Yuki and get struck instead than let her undergo her tribulation alone.

“Nana, just be good.” Yuki pinched Nana’s side, causing her to yelp and look at Yuki with an aggrieved expression. “No pouting. I know you love me and wish to protect me, but do not forget, at this time, I am stronger than you. You need to break through to gain a huge amount of strength.” 

“But Yuki….” Nana whined like a child. 

Yuki chuckled and kissed her lips. “We need to do this on our own. Only by doing so can we use the tribulation as a means of fortifying our bodies more. We need to be struck and use as much of the heavenly tribulation lightning to our advantage, or else when we break through to the next major realm, we will be too weak to even survive the first strike.” 

Nana could only lower her head. She knew this was true, but the thought of her Yuki being struck by lightning pained her. Yuki sighed as she stepped off her flying sword, stood in front of the dragon girl, and poked her forehead. “The path of cultivation is filled with dangers. We already know this. We are the very few and rare who can jump multiple small realms in a week without messing up our foundation. We are bound to the waist and will never part. We are the very few who find love in this world filled with killing. No matter what, I can not miss the chance to take in some of this tribulation lightning and use it for my own cultivation. This is what cultivation is and what it means to defy the heavens. We make the heavens work for us.”

Nana pouted before finally nodding her head. “If Yuki says so, then I guess there is nothing I can do about it. But Yuki, please be careful.”

“I will throw those words back at you. I am just as worried about you as you are of me. So no matter what, make sure you get through this, okay?” Yuki smiled and hugged Nana. “We have so much to accomplish, so we need to continue growing much stronger.”

“Mm….” Nana hugged Yuki tightly. She knew Yuki was right. “I swear I will never leave you no matter how many times I reincarnate.”

“Damn straight, or you will have one really angry ghost haunting you for all eternity.” Yuki teased. The two girls looked at each other and began laughing.

Silvia just stood next to Elder Nishikawa with a complicated expression. These two girls’ cultivation was rising too fast. She did not know how much longer she could be of use to her two new masters. 

“Don’t think unnecessary things.” Elder Nishikawa knocked Silvia on the head. “These two girls will never cast you aside. Since you are now their friend and someone they share an intimate bond with. Why do you think I had you sit in their room with them? I did so so that you could not just keep an eye on them but form a special bond. Otherwise, you would never have gotten so close to them. But now you boldly walk into the room naked with them. I know this is not a normal way of forming a bond, but I could not think of any other way to break the wall you formed around yourself.” 

Silvia had a complicated expression. She did feel she had been much bolder and more open with the two girls. But that was because they treated her as family. They did not hide anything. It was a strange feeling for her to be in a group where she could feel a part of herself that she had long lost starting to surface again.

“See, even now, as you think about it, you probably do not even realize you have a small smile on your usually stoic face.” Elder Nishikawa smiled and rubbed Silvia’s head. Silvia was just a young girl like Yuki and Nana. She had been forced into the life of an assassin at a young age. Now that she was basically free, she could live a normal life. She knew forcing  Sivlia to sit in on Yuki, and Nana’s sessions was weird, but once she got to know them both outside the bedroom and within it, she slowly started to open up a little.

Silvia did not say anything as she watched the two girls now joking around. She felt that both Nana’s and Yuki’s smiles were kind of contagious. She felt alive just seeing them smile. Only after a while did Silvia mumble: “I will be sure to protect their smiles…..”