Heaven, Earth, Me

A few months passed after the children's tribulations. There was nothing new to do, so all the girls started setting their sights outward from the Solar System.

Between them, Angel started working on one project very passionately. This project was none other than a formation to detect Lidia, her big sister. 

She knew that she was not in Distancia. After all, they had already rescued all the women and men who came from the Sky Continent after getting into power. While she had to hide as a female slave trader at first, Yasenia completely threw away that identity when her influence reached its current level and used a few years to search far and wide between human slaves to save all people from the Sky Continent.

The powers cooperated after Tatyana revealed her own strength, giving them a problem free path to rescue everyone they wanted to. 

Human slavery had been reduced quite a lot during all these years, but it was still something that could be found in certain regions. Otherwise, most of the human slaves had been freed and dropped into the country that An Meiling created. 

Rooting out the long history of racism in the entire country needed to be done slowly and gradually, something everyone in power understood… Or, better said, they were forced to understand after Yasenia gave them a side glance. 

In short, everything was going in the correct direction, and in a few centuries or millennia, the place would look much different if there weren't any significant policy changes.

I digress. 

The formation Angel was developing was completed a few months after the children's tribulation. Once done, Angel called Tatyana to come and see it.

Tatyana arrived and looked at the enormous formation circle with interest. "Oh? Not bad at all, Angel. This would certainly work. The only thing you need to do is place a drop of blood in the center, right?"

Angel nodded a few times, excited. "Exactly! When a drop of blood is placed in the center, the formation will send out a pulse of energy that can travel at more than ten light-years per day, thanks to moving through the immaterial plane. When it finds another being with blood that resonates with the drop of blood, meaning family, it will echo back with another energy frequency. The formation can capture this frequency, and it will return a direction and time of detection! Its maximum range is… I honestly don't know! But I am quite certain that I can find Big Sister Lidia with this!"

Tatyana smiled faintly. "The maximum range must be enough to search around an average-sized galaxy. Of course, beyond 2,000 Light years, the signal will become increasingly vague." Then, Tatyana smiled. "Regardless, Angel, congratulations on building your first Transcendent Ranked Formation."

Angel blinked a few times. "Eh?" Angel looked at it, confused. "Why did you say that, Mommy Tatyana? I can clearly feel a peak-level Heaven-ranked aura."

Tatyana walked forward and stopped in front of a glass pillar that was part of the formation. 

Formations could be drawn on a flat surface, or they could use items to be created. Some formations used flags, pillars, rocks, and other types of special materials. 

The more complex a formation was, the bigger the chance that it would have something like that. 

When she stopped at that pillar, she looked at Angel and commented. "Why am I standing here?"

Angel looked at the spot Tatyana was standing on, and her clever brain started spinning. After a few moments, Angel was leaning over that spot, creasing her eyebrows so much that they were about to touch. 

Tatyana pointed at the glass pillar again and smiled. "Angel, this pillar is positioned in the 'Flying Star 5' diagram of the 36 Heavenly Diagrams." She explained, referencing a known Feng Shui principle for energy pathways. Angel's mind instantly caught on. "Flying Star 5 is associated with misfortune and instability if not balanced properly. By placing the pillar here, you're cluttering this energy pathway, forming an energy block that disrupts the harmony of the entire formation." Ꞧ𝒶ΝÓᛒЕŞ

Angel looked at her and muttered. So… I should align this pillar with the 'Flying Star 8' diagram, which is governed by stability and long-range influence… Oh… Oh! That way, the energy flow remains grounded and more predictable, resonating with the expansive energy easier and increasing the reach several times over!" 

Tatyana smiled and patted her head. "That's right. You got it. Change it and see what happens."

Angel took out her formation pen and changed the drawings. With each stroke, the entire formation shook, deepening its aura and presence. After the final stroke, Angel smiled widely. "Completed!"

BOOM!

A massive pillar of energy soared skyward, piercing through the ceiling and shooting into the void. Angel's clothes fluttered upward, her long skirt plastered against her face. 

Tatyana had predicted it and was outside the formation, looking at Angel while laughing. "You look great, Angel. You should sport this outside and call it panty-dress." 

Angel used her own aura to push her dress down, her face reddening. "So silly! You play too much sometimes, Mommy Tatyana! Are you bored!?"

Tatyana shrugged. "Regardless, congratulations. That's a bonafide Transcendent Ranked formation. The time you took is too long, and the materials you used are too many, so you can't really be considered a Transcendent Ranked Formation Master. However, you are almost there!" 

Angel smiled. "I see. That's good! Also, isn't this stronger? How long is its effective range now?"

Tatyana pondered. "Its speed should be around 50 light-years per day. The range is probably 50 times more. I would bet that the accuracy is neat until 100,000 light years, while it will be able to detect even in nearby galaxies if there is no interference. However, 100,000 light years distance is guaranteed to function unless someone is actively defending against it."

Angel clapped. "Ohh! Let's activate it then!" 

Tatyana looked at the excited little girl and asked. "You need to name it, no?"

Angel paused and nodded. "Let's call it [Interstellar Family Formation]!"

Tatyana laughed. "Quite fitting. I like it."

Mirrory appeared by Tatyana's side and smirked. "My girl has a good naming sense, unlike others."

Tatyana snorted. "What's that supposed to mean, eh? I admit we are not the best, but Yasenia and I are not that bad!"

Mirrory paused and looked at Angel. "I wonder if Aurelia has inherited the Dravory naming sense."

Angel froze for a second, and her face became serious, making Tatyana sweat. "H-Hey, don't look so serious."

Angel hummed. "I'll need to do a test when I return."

The Death Empress deadpanned and shook her head. "Whatever. This formation can be quite nice for our family in Distancia to have. They can go out and search for blood relatives quite easily."

Mirrory looked at the sky and sighed. "A big family with bad naming sense will spread across the entire Universe. I didn't expect that I would be pitying Heaven one day. Perhaps, in a million years, Heaven's name will change to Big Cloud, or Sparkly Cloud, or worse, Cloud That Gets Angry When We Get Stronger."

Angel looked at Mirrory and raised her eyebrow. "You criticize it a lot, but you know your way around it."

The Ancient Mirror spoke seriously. "Know your enemy, know yourself, and you will win a thousand battles!"

Tatyana jumped and spun, kicking the talking mirror and sending it flying across the room.

Angel laughed and bit the tip of her finger, dropping the blood in the middle of the formation. When the blood fell into the small concave surface at the center of the formation, it got absorbed by the formation's core and activated the entire thing.

The lines lit up in sequence, creating a beautiful spectacle. The 36 pillars lit up and spread an aura that collided with perfect symmetry at the center. 

BOOM!

The pressure of energy created a spatial energy ripple that got absorbed into the immaterial space and rushed outward with ridiculous speed.

Without energy, Light Speed was the speed limit of the universe. However, breaking the laws of physics was relatively easy when energy got involved.

Angel looked around and raised her arms. "Success!"

Tatyana and Mirrory smiled and praised the young genius. 

Tatyana said: "Greatly done, Little Angel."

Mirrory floated close to Angel and patted her head. "That's right. This time around, you did exceptionally well." 

Angel giggled. "Hehehe. Thanks~."

"Oh, right!" Angel commented, looking at Tatyana. "When will Estrella break through? She is approaching 19 years of age already, right?"

Tatyana pondered. "To be honest, I am unsure. There is something strange going on in her body. I think her first tribulation will be as strong as Yasenia's first tribulation. Therefore, I want to increase her strength a little bit more."

Mirrory asked. "What did you see? I am honestly quite limited by my current strength, and I can't really see through entirely."

Tatyana explained. "I think she has her real strength sealed." Tatyana sighed. "Although, it is just a speculation." 

Mirrory smiled faintly. "So, it is more you being hopeful than being onto something?"

Tatyana looked at Mirrory and smiled. "She is my Little Light; of course, I am hopeful that she will become the strongest."

"Lady Tatyana!"

Doriel appeared quickly in the room and spoke. "Little Miss Estrella is breaking through!"

Tatyana frowned and rushed toward the teleportation formation together with Doriel. "What happened? Why so suddenly?"

Doriel shook her head. "We are unaware. Young Miss has already sent the rest of us to Distancia with Little Miss Estrella."

Tatyana nodded. "Great. Is she in the Tribulation Plaza?"

Doriel nodded. "That's the place Young Miss chose for safety."

"Good. There is a formation there that will make her breakthrough somewhat easier."

After reaching the teleportation formation, both Doriel and Tatyana crossed over and landed in the Astral Sky Sect. 

After rushing over to the Tribulation Plaza, Tatyana looked around and saw Estrella standing with her scythe in the middle of the plaza. However, her eyebrows were locked together, showing confusion. "Estrella! What happened?"

Seeing that the Tribulation was still gathering, Tatyana took her chance to ask. 

When she heard her mother's voice, Estrella turned to look and shouted. "Mama, I was just practicing, and suddenly, I felt a burning feeling in my Dantian area. I don't know what is happening!" 

Tatyana looked skyward and said. "Love, don't rush." She smiled. "Explain to me what happened briefly."

Estrella was feeling nervous. After all, this tribulation came without a warning. Hearing her mother's reassuring words helped a lot in toning down the restlessness she was currently feeling. 

"I was practicing my Body Cultivation technique, perfecting the last realm as much as I could. Then, I found a strange… void? Like a place that had no energy in my stomach area. So, I poured energy into it. Right after, my aura went out of control, and Mommy sent me here."

Tatyana pondered and smiled. "This might be something good, love. Focus on your body, the Body Cultivation Technique, and that void that you tried to fill. Once you pass the Tribulation, we can slowly look into it."

Estrella nodded with a smile and focused again, not seeing that Tatyana's face dropped somewhat when she stopped looking. 

Valeria asked, confused. "Do you know anything about what she just explained?"

Tatyana shook her head. "I have no idea. I was just cheering her up. Sometimes, hope can help us in our most dire situations."

Valeria's face tensed, and she looked at Estrella closely, prepared to intervene the instant Estrella finished the Tribulation. This would be the closest Tribulation between all of them.