Yin & Yang Pleasures of Cultivation

Darcel and Aniela's eyes were on their fists as they repeatedly clenched it over and over again. With each clench they force on their palms, they both felt a pop of power burst within them.

At every inch of their bodies, it all was now enhanced with Innate Qi! 

All of their physical capabilities were tremendously upgraded to a point Darcel and Aniela weren't even fully aware of. This was the physical power of having an Innate Core body. Their already surprisingly tough bodily defense was now taken to a whole other level.

Masami was equally excited awe as her two foxtails fervently swished around. Inside her dantian space, she had finished constructing a Heavenly Qi seed deep within her dantian's core. 

This puts her in the half-step Heavenly Transformation realm, and she could now use the overwhelming power of Heavenly Qi!

Before doing anything further, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami took a deep breather, taking a moment to quickly adjust to their new bodily states. 

Though their powers may have taken a giant leap, it got engraved into their hearts to never get ahead of themselves.

A small breath leaked from Aniela's lips, and she had then curved it up into a small smile. She spoke up first, telling the others, "Like this, we have just taken a huge step forward. And now, we have many more to go."

Masami was all smirks as she had much more assurance of their survival compared to before. Her mind began to recall just how easy it was to break through, even beyond the effects of the Qi Root fruit. 

An inquisitive expression plastered on Masami's face as she suddenly asked Darcel and Aniela, "By the way, did you two notice how easy it is to cultivate? When I was working on breaking through to the Heavenly Transformation realm, literally, I felt nothing, zero resistance. And not even the Qi Root Fruit could negate the effects of a great realm mental block. All I lack now is, well, some good Qi energy."

Darcel and Aniela flashed a gaze at each other, both having understanding swirling within their eyes.  Their minds recalled their own cultivation, and everything Masami had said was entirely accurate.

Both Aniela and Masami's response had also confirmed one question Darcel had nestling around in his head. 

Darcel and Aniela had then nodded at the same time, and Darcel had told them, "I'm not sure how, but amazingly enough, a blessing must've come for us. Our comprehension abilities….they're what even high-rank geniuses would envy."

Even as Aniela was pleased with her newfound comprehension abilities, her brows still furrowed in an inquisitive expression. From all that she knows about comprehension abilities, it's nowhere near easy to so casually increase it.

Out of all things cultivators can rely on externally to increase their cultivation realm, comprehension abilities were the one thing that evaded their grasps. 

Not even Mages can come up with ways to increase one's comprehension.

And when thinking about themselves, Aniela also realized they should've fallen in the same camp. Their comprehension abilities were always high but never so instantaneous. 

Moreover, while Masami's talent had improved throughout their time together, she always had the lowest comprehension abilities between them. 

With her doubts rising, she had to ask,  "This is all good and fine. But….can we really trust this? What if this is just some cruel ruse from the…." 

Aniela almost flinched when saying this name. "The yellow-eyed woman…."

All thought Aniela had about that terrifying demon of a woman was now wholly negative, full of undying resentment. Even after things passed, she still couldn't get over how she held so much faith in that woman.

A similar chill crept up Darcel and Masami's spine when directly speaking about the yellow-eyed woman. 

However, Masami actually didn't lose her eager stride. She forced past the cold sensations she had about the yellow-eyed woman and said,

"Sure, we can't deny that this could bite our ass in the long run. But before that time comes, let's just take full advantage of this ability. Plus, if that demoness really wanted us gone or to suffer more, she would've just done it when her hand was piercing our hearts."

Masami's blunt words resonated around Aniela's head. Really, there wasn't anything she could refute her on. The doubts will remain imprinted in her subconsciousness. 

Still, Aniela knew it was best to follow Masami's thoughts and focus on the positive aspects.

While Darcel rummaged on Masami's words, a sudden memory streaked through his mind. He had briefly recalled bits and pieces from a dream painted in yellow after his meeting with the yellow-eyed woman.

Darcel couldn't remember much of those ethereal figure's words, but he can recount them telling him that the 'mixed spawn' saved them in a way. 

Perhaps whatever savior thing the yellow-eyed woman did also related to their upgraded comprehension.

Since Darcel couldn't remember much of the dream as of now, he shook his head at that thought and began telling the girls, "I suppose you are right on this front, Masami. Now then, just to make sure, you girls don't feel any more injuries, right?"

Masami shook her head and began cracking out her knuckles just to show fine she was. "Nope. All completely healed over here." 

Aniela similarly nodded her head, feeling more filled with life than she has been for the past few hours.

"Completely healed as well. Sooo….where should he head next? I'm not countering on our luck to continue on keeping us from meeting with anybody." Aniela said while scanning her eyes at their current environment.

Because they needed to heal and cultivate, Aniela didn't get a good look at just where they ended up. But, not much to her shock, they were still in an area that looked just the same as the rest of the snowy forest maze.

The only slight variation was fewer trees clouding around this area, allowing for a wider breadth of walking space than previous areas. 

Darcel wrinkled his eyebrow and began stretching out his improved Innate Spirit Sense. He quickly covered miles of distance while also being incredibly meticulous in his search. 

But even after scanning quite far, Darcel still didn't pick up on any other life signature.  Furthermore, there also wasn't any potent treasure energy that could point them in the right direction. 

A slightly odd feeling crept into Darcel's mind since, reasonably, there should've been some sort of Spirit Monster roaming around these parks.

Darcel did fathom that the Spirit Monster could possibly be hiding. But, with his Innate Spirit Sense, it shouldn't be able to escape his scope. 

Either way, Darcel still spoke in a cautious tone, even if there was an immediate lack of danger. He pointed his finger in a random direction, telling the girls, 

"Let's just go this way. It is almost like a ghost town in this area. At least, the farther we walk, there more likely it is for us to encounter something random."

Aniela and Masami readily agree, having no concrete plans themselves.

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami had then taken their first steps up after a long seclusion. Their joints literally crackled with power as their bodies emitted a far stronger aura now.

Masami was incredibly fired up; determination was filling her voice as she said, "Even if we have to scourge around like digging moles, let's not rest until we find that next treasure!"

"Hehe~." A melodic giggle leaked from Aniela's mouth, being the first time she let a genuine chuckle in a while. "I'm glad your spirits are improving, Sami. But I say it's more of us tactically scouting out our options than becoming moles."

Darcel began to lightly smile as he heard Masami immediately fire off another bantering remark. 

With so much trauma thrust upon them at once, Darcel felt relief that the girls were gradually returning to their usual selves.

….

A few minutes later. 

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami were back on track traversing the snowy forest maze. However, there was a change in how they crossed through the forest now.

Masami was the only one walking as Darcel and Aniela were hovering a few feet off the ground right by her! 

Both of them were currently learning a process that every Innate Core Cultivator is supposed to learn later on in this realm.

That is, learning to fly! 

Darcel and Aniela were manipulating their Innate Core in their dantian to lift themselves off the ground. From their breakthrough, they already have a massive reserve of Innate Qi energy, which allowed them to get some stable practice.

Masami had an expectant expression as she carefully observed Darcel and Aniela's hovering. Really, besides just giving some slight, general pointers, the duo picked up hovering nearly instantaneously!

Moreover, Masami could sense these two were holding back from going into a full-blown sprint through the air. 

Even though this feat should've been shocking to her, Masami simply recalled that they all have insane comprehension abilities now. Learning how to grasp flying at their levels really wouldn't be all too notable for Darce and Aniela. 

After a few more minutes of hovering while going forward, Darcel and Aniela calmly landed on their feet.

Both of them had an increasingly eager expression, and Aniela had even said, "So this is how it feels to defy gravity, huh Sami? I already like this ability!" 

When Darcel and Aniela could fully master flying, their combat potential would soar. No longer would they be chained to the grounds, and their synergy would improve even more. 

Little by little, the trio felt their hope increase with every useful ability they could grasp.