Yin & Yang Pleasures of Cultivation

While the Mercenary Exchange Event was in a continuous state of high tension, back on the outside of that independent realm, New Branch City is in a constant state of unrest.

Hours passed since the event had started, yet neither the original residents nor remaining Mercarnies inside New Branch City had their minds entirely focused on the event. 

Even as of now, nearly all residents were still thinking about that violent earthquake that struck their City.

Absolutely nobody knew what could've caused such an unfathomable power quake. And it wasn't like this was a natural occurrence in the environment. Despite being on a smaller scale of size, New Branch City still expands at least over thousands of miles.

No, everyone had sensed it was some form of boundless power that had affected their entire City.

However, after that brief violent earthquake, whatever that unfathomable power was didn't appear again. 

Residents wanted answers from the City Lords, worrying that they would potentially get attacked by the same dangerous enemy in the future.

But, stranger than the violent earthquake was the fact that the City Lords didn't make any official statement. The most residents got was just a simple announcement that everything was just a false alarm.

Other than that, no residents had seen any movement come out of the City Lords manors. Everything was all too suspicious, but residents could only wait until somebody came out of the City Lord Manor.

At the same time, the residents were suspicious; inside the City Lord manor, a mass preparation was undergoing. 

Within the massive manor, City Lord Yi Feng and Mage Mao had spread life-threatening news around. These two were the ones that experienced firsthand the yellow-eyed woman's overwhelming power.

Even now, neither understood why that demoness of a woman had let them go. But they were sure she had no good intentions towards anything. 

In fact, when the yellow-eyed woman forcefully changed the independent realm before their very eyes, both City Lord Yi Feng and Mage Mao believed all Mercenaries squadrons in there were already dead.

Unknown to the whole City, the City Lords were desperately trying to come up with any kind of countermeasure for an enemy that seemed like an invincible God. 

But, this was an enemy nobody there would ever see again.

….

A few miles from New Branch City, within the Wild Snow Lands, everything was the usual eerie silence. 

Despite the changes happening within New Branch City and the Mercenary Exchange Event, the outside world had stayed the same. Down to light gray color snow, the occasional Spirit Monster roaming about, and freezing temperature, nothing was out of place. 

But right then, unknown to everyone within New Branch City, a black spatial tear had appeared, splitting apart the air itself.

For a five hundred foot radius, everything had frozen when that black spatial tear appeared. A mysterious form of energy, unknown to any current cultivator or Mages, had suddenly burst within this limited area, covering everything in a profound black flash!

The blinding black flash lasted for a brief moment before vanishing almost immediately along with that profound form of energy. 

Out from the black flash, three young youths had appeared.

The three of them were all kneeling on the snowy grounds, eyes still closed over getting teleported from a different realm altogether. 

Of course, these youths were Darcel, Aniela, and Masami. 

After jumping into that teleportation spatial portal, their entire beings had got covered by that mysterious form of energy. And in a blink of an eye, they were teleported to this random spot within the Wild Snow Land. 

The trio took a few moments to allow their minds to process getting suddenly teleported.

It was a strange experience, but nothing Darcel, Aniela, or Masami wasn't used to it. In no time at all, the trio felt their minds properly adjust back to reality. 

Right then, they simultaneously flung their eyes wide open.

Upon seeing the familiar scenery of the Wild Snow Land, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami felt their bodies become incredibly light. 

"Haaah…." 

They all exhaled a massive breath that was filled with utter relief.

"Finally….land…." The trio all muttered to themselves repeatedly as they could feel their accumulated stress heavily decrease. 

Out of everything they experienced so far, they were simply thrilled to be out of that independent realm.

Even though at this point, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami could be considered as relatively experienced cultivators, being under a continuous threat of death can wear anyone's mental state out.

Moreover, the yellow-eyed woman had also left a severe trauma on them that just made their situation seem that much worse. 

Subconsciously, Aniela and Masami reached and firmly grasped Darcel's hands while they rested.

Both Aniela and Masami let out a slight hum of content, feeling Darcel's warmth course throughout their entire bodies. Darcel also felt calmer from both girl's subconscious reliance on him.

Though he, of course, wanted them to have a robust mental fortitude on their own, Darcel was readily willing to be their support anchor until they both felt better. 

Like this, the trio sat for a couple of minutes, simply letting their minds breathe.

Afterward, a sudden flame ignited within Aniela's eyes. A bright smile filled with her once typical vibrant energy graced her lips as she grasped Darcel's hand tighter. 

"That was a nice breather! Alright! Let's get too comfortable; we need to get to actual safety."

Darcel and Masami perked up from Aniela's words, fueling themselves with the same kind of burning energy she has. 

At the same time, the trio slowly rose to their feet. While going to stand up, they all had experienced some locked-up joints crack out, causing their bodies to feel even lighter than before. 

Masami began to stretch out her arms and suddenly recalled Bella's words. "Tch…..that lazy woman. Where did she say to go? Azog Ice Town, right?" 

Darcel nodded at Masami and had then begun telling the girls, "Yes, she claims the Siren Blood Mage group is there. And girls…."

Before he finished his sentence, Darcel placed his hands on both Aniela and Masami's shoulders, causing them to calm down a bit. 

Gently gripping on their shoulders, Darcel spoke in a clear, determined tone.

"Don't over worry about the future. I'm not sure if our bloodlines can help us become Mages. But for sure, our Chaotic Shards can guarantee us a path on this road." 

Right then, both Aniela and Masami started to suddenly recall when they stared into that teleportation spatial portal.

There was still a confuddled fuzziness coursing through their head recalling that memory, but now, both girls could vaguely tell that their Chaotic Shards did react! 

Aniela and Masami weren't like Darcel, where they could immediately identify the aspects of Chaotic energy.

But they could at least identify what separates Chaotic energy from all other types of energies. Both Qi energy and Magical energy were vastly different from their Chaotic shards.

And it clicked with the girls that their Chaotic shards were reacting to Magical energy. 

"Yea….yea, of course! Didn't those shards or something say this was a God ability? We can totally become Mages!" Masami spoke with an increasingly confident tone. 

With Darcel and Aniela on her side, she was getting inscribed with the hope that they can make it through this. At this moment, her mind was focused entirely on the positive rather than anything negative.

Feeling an equal amount of confidence, Aniela was about to talk again. But right then, she suddenly recalled one other thing about them. Her eyes quickly trailed down her own body, noting that she still had this battered state of her clothes.

Aniela had then peered her sights over to Darcel and Masami, only to see their similar battered state of clothes. 

A wry smile curved up Aniela's lips; they had one crucial task to do first before anything.

"Darcy, Sami. Before we go on a grand adventure to become Mages, we first need to change our clothes! I mean, we just look too shabby right now." 

Since Aniela brought it to their attention, Darcel and Masami had also noticed the battered state of their clothes.

When Masami noticed it, her reaction was almost subdued. She simply shrugged her shoulders, not really feeling any different about whether she had decent-looking clothes.

Despite coming from an all-powerful sect and being the daughter of royalty, Masami genuinely couldn't care much about how she dressed. She just never saw any real reasons to, much preferring to do things related to cultivation.

Darcel, though realized the importance of wearing decent enough clothing. Especially now since their prowess isn't high, looking well dressed enough would at least give off a better first impression.

Darcel was suddenly reminded of his first time at Zakira Academy. He and Aniela had shabby-looking clothes initially, which already gave people a wrong impression of them.

Realizing one other important aspect, Darcel told the girls, "While we're at it, we also need some new masks. Our clothes may not be the best looking, but we could still get some unwanted attention. Let's make a quick stop at some random town first."

For a brief moment, a slight shudder courses down Aniela and Masami's spines. They dread to think what would happen if they got the attention of another man because of their looks.

"Alright!" Both Aniela and Masami eagerly responded. 

Although, a slightly confusing light swirled in Masami's eyes afterward. "Uhh….but where should we go from here?"

Darcel didn't miss a beat and told the girls, "Just follow behind me. I have a vivid description of this general area from that map we brought back in the City."

Without any further delay, Darcel flew into the skies, with Aniela and Masami following right behind him. 

Despite Darcel and Aniela only being in the Innate Core realm while Masami is at the half-step Heavenly Transformation realm, their speeds were no less than any other early rank Heavenly King powerhouses.