Yin & Yang Pleasures of Cultivation

The light-shaded yellow sky still permeated all throughout the independent realm. Even with the seeming disappearance of the yellow-eyed woman, the change in the sky was permanent. 

The permanent sky changed also reflects how different the Merecneray Exchange Event was and how shocking it will be later on. After a couple hours, the Event had shifted gears to high intensity. 

All throughout the realm, numerous fights tore the snowy forest maze unsundered. 

Squadron groups and boosted Spirit Monsters alike all engaged in fierce combat with each other, causing numerous casualties on both sides.

And for one particular Squadron group, words were spreading of their explicit cruelty. When Mercenaries members heard about the cruelty of this specific group, many were surprised.

Out of all Mercenaries groups, the cruelest would always range from the White Demon group, the Golden Crow Circle, or the Raven Mage order group. 

However, none of those groups were even making any large waves in this year's Event. It was especially unusual for the Golden Crow Circle and the Raven Mage Order group. 

It was like these two groups went largely silent just a few minutes after starting the Mercenary Exchange Event. 

No, the group showing their overt cruelty is, shockingly, the Snow Angel Order group!

This was the one Mercenary group that many always thought was too aloof, proud, and arrogant to dirty their hands with vicious killings. 

But as intel got spread out from the lucky survivors that managed to encounter a Snow Angel squadron, they all would note one specific Captain that would be entirely ruthless in her action.

This year's Mercenary Exchange has undoubtedly been a significant change for everyone. And after it's all over, the whole New Branch City would be warped with various tremendous news of several monumental figures.

….

Thousands of miles deep within the snowy forest maze, this area was a particularly secluded one. Only under one enormous tree where there three figures huddled up together, leaning against its vast trunk.

These figures were all youths who were in a worse for wear state. Their clothes were in a heavily battered state, looking like they had just got off several tremendous battles.

These damaged-looking youths were Darcel, Aniela, and Masami. 

By just the skin of their teeth, they had survived that grueling attack from the Shadow Rogue Captain. The lightning escaping talisman had no clear direction, but it at least took them as far as away as possible.

Although, there were several complicated matters Darcel had to solve when they had crash-landed in this area.

Though they all had barely survived, Darcel was the only one still conscious when they stumbled onto this place. 

Even with their incredibly tough bodies, Aniela and Masami's vitality simply weren't enough to keep them afloat.

When they were struck by the Spirit Monster Python, barely any of its power invaded their bodies before their Chaotic Shards destroyed it. 

But with the Shadow Rogue Captain, his energy fully poured into them, which caused severe damage to them before their Chaotic Shards could react.

Still, when their Chaotic Shards finally spewed in their bodies, it destroyed the Shadow Rogue Captain's power in a manner of seconds. 

This let them all keep their lives, but for an unexplained reason, Darcel was the only remaining conscience. 

Darcel, quite honestly, wasn't entirely sure why he was the only one kept up. He thought it was something pertaining to his cultivation realm. But Aniela was only one level behind him, and Masami had the highest realm between them. 

Moreover, it wasn't like Darcel had an advantage in his bloodline. That was the one thing he truly couldn't rely on in this scenario. 

No matter how it happened, Darcel couldn't focus on that train of thought as another intense sensation was warping his mind at that time.

The excruciatingly unbearable pain legitimately made Darcel want to go unconscious. He may have high pain tolerance, but the feeling of having nearly all of your bones cracked open and almost every organ rupture wasn't something a merely determined mind can handle.

However, Darcel absolutely refused to fall unconscious. 

Every time he would teeter on the verge, his mind would snap over to Aniela and Masami's unconscious states. If he were to let himself fall, he definitely knew it would be over for the three of them.

For a while now, nothing has been going their way. It's all just been bad luck and impossible to win fights. 

But Darcel was quickly learning that no matter what happens, he needs to remain persistent and keep pushing forward.

Even as he was forced to hide, run and defend, Darcel learned to simply accept that was as much he could really do in their situation. His arrogance, pride, and ego, all from before, mellowed out as he took care of Aniela and Masami's unconscious form.

Darcel couldn't say for sure what it exactly felt like. But he certainly did feel a specific shift occurring in his mental state. In order to survive with his two lovers, he realized he needed to change and grow to become better in every aspect.

Darcel knew he'll need to refine everything for the better, from his cultivation, mental state, and even personality. 

Darcel would always consider what the yellow-eyed woman had done to them as a nightmarish disaster. But, he could at least admit that without doing what she did, his mindset probably wouldn't grow in any short amount of time. 

With thoughts like this swirling in his mind at that time, Darcel gritted his teeth and took Aniela and Masami bodies under that enormously vast tree.

He had then fed the girls and himself several Healing Pills, uncaring on how much he had to use. 

Because they used to have essentially full access to the whole Snow Angel group, the trio did take the time to stock up on healing resources.

Even though that was the time they all had their incredible confidence and egos, they still knew that something unexpected could possibly happen to them. 

Although, even with the abundance of healing resources, it took quite a while for them to make a nearly complete recovery.

The time they took to recover should've been hazardous; at any moment, a Squadron or feral Spirit Monster could've got the jump on them. 

But by some shining luck that Darcel was eternally grateful, they were able to go into complete seclusion for thirty minutes!

Around the ten-minute mark of their recovery, Aniela and Masam had finally awoken. Darcel, who was initially happy to see them awake, noticed an immediate change in them. 

He had felt some slight worrying concerns when staring into the girl's eyes. For some reason, they both had an odd, far-away look in their eyes. Almost as if while they were unconscious, they were profoundly contemplating something.

Darcel had to put that line of questioning on hold as he swiftly told them to refine the Healing Pills in their bodies. 

And making his concern go up a notch higher, Aniela and Masami had wordlessly complied with his directions.

It was a bit of a surreal moment for Darcel. Both girls, in their own unique way, would always have some sort of comment to make. 

Masami, for sure, would be the first one to talk as she was accustomed to venting out her frustrations. And Aniela would always be there to follow up with a more soothing comment.

But the way they acted then was almost like they both were two completely different people. 

Darcel could only push those thoughts for later and had continued to refine the healing energy in his body.

And after another ten minutes, Darcel found his worries were for nothing. He was awoken from his healing process when Aniela and Masami rapidly shook his arms in genuine excitement. 

Darcel had opened his eyes to see Aniela's face gaining back her usual enigmatic optimism. While Masami had her typical excited expression. 

At the same time, they both shouted to him in an overwhelming amount of passion, "Let's take that treasure!!"

The girls didn't even yet know they were lucky enough to have no one around them. They were truly so heated up that they wanted to breakthrough no matter the consequences.

And Darcel could fathom why they were both overly excited. In his Darkness Soul link, he sensed both of their emotions to be in a chaotic, jumbled mix. 

Though Darcel essentially had to grit himself to change to a more calm and focused mindset.

The girls aren't like him at all. Their attachment to life and survival shot through the roof, and they both had reached one swift conclusion. 

To survive together, they needed power! Without power, neither Aniela nor Masami knew just how much their luck could last. The need for power shouldn't be anything new for the girls. But they were feeling the thrive for it more than ever.

Darcel could tell that this near-death experience weighed another shackle on the girl's minds, heavily changing it towards a new point.

He really couldn't blame them since he too, was also tremendously affected by this near-death experience. Moreover, his thoughts also align with the girls since it was true that numerous troubles would be more easily solved if they had more power.

And all of this had led to their current situation. 

Taking an immense daring risk, Darcel had split up the Qi Root Fruit three ways, and they were currently refining its potent Qi energy.

A full thirty minutes did pass with no disruption from Squadron groups or Spirit monsters. 

But, who's to say that would last? 

It wasn't like the trio had some talisman or Spirit Artifact that could set up a formation to keep them safe. Furthermore, when cultivating, they would be at their most vulnerable state. 

Despite these numerous insane risks, the trio still had to take this route. If not, their prowess would only stay stagnant for the remainder of this Event.

Although, when Darcel had actually started cultivating, he took notice of several immediate tremendous changes. It was such profound changes that he was nearly taken aback, almost in utter disbelief.