Yin & Yang Pleasures of Cultivation

A couple of days flew by in the blink of an eye since Darcel, Aniela and Masami started their trek towards Azog Ice Town. The trio didn't want to rest for an extended period of time; each of them held overly worried paranoia. 

Even though they were out of the independent realm, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami knew they should not get complacent at any moment. 

During their rest at Azog Ice Town, a frightening thought surged its way into the trio's mind.

What sent a chilling shiver down their spines was the fact that Kassidy knows about them and holds a tremendous amount of hatred towards them. 

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami had no doubt in their mind that Kassidy would immediately try to pursue them the first moment when she gets out of the independent realm.

Furthermore, there's also the very high possibility of Kassidy calling to her Sect and informing Masami's grandmother that Masami is alive. 

This caused an indomitable pressure on the trio, causing them to become intenser in their travels.

With such high stress continually affecting their mental state, allowing for their speed to become quicker than before, Darcel also realized he had to make sure they don't break from such stress.

It's why during their stay at Azog Ice Town, he engaged in several passionate rounds of lovemaking with Aniela and Masami. And both girls were quite eager to let out their pent-up stress.

Not only was sex an act that helps to alleviate high tension, but when doing it with people they genuinely love, it felt all the better for the trio. 

Afterward, the trio had immediately taken flight to the skies. And their steady pace would leave even Heavenly King cultivators in awe. 

If this was any other group of Heavenly King cultivators, they would need to take numerous rests if they wanted to travel thousands of miles of distance.

Most of the time, Heavenly King cultivators would end up purchasing flying beast mounts for incredibly long distances like this. 

But, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami energy reserves showed their specialty here. For nearly a whole day, each of them could soar for several hundreds of miles and barely be drained at all. 

In all honesty, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami couldn't pinpoint why flying barely cost them energy.

Masami found it especially strange considering before meeting the yellow-eyed woman, she would feel a standard drain on her Qi energy reserve for flying a long time. 

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami certainly wanted to get to the bottom of this change. But they pushed it for a later time when they didn't have tremendous worries pressuring their minds.

Then, after traveling day and night for two days straight with barely any rest, all the while having the speed of early-ranks Heavenly King, the trio had finally arrived near their destination.

As of now, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami were normally walking on the Ice Path that leads to a town. Just up ahead from them, the trio could spot a massive town that appeared to have no end in sight.

Even though flying is faster, the trio knows that it would be unwise to fly over any town or City. 

Masami was the one to teach Darcel and Aniela this, informing them that the City Lords see it as a sign of disrespect.

Unless one is a powerful titled Grand Sage cultivator, everyone would need to simply walk through the Gates. If not, they would need to deal with the attention of the City or Town Lords inhabiting these places.

It was a minor inconvenience, but Darcel, Aniela, and Masami didn't mind it much. 

While they walked, they all had their masks on, so there wasn't any other cultivator that would spare even a passing glance at them.

Without needing to fight or quickly flying over to the Town, Darcel, Aniela and Masami took the time to collect their minds. They took a few minutes to silently walk, allowing for them to adjust their mental state to its best capacity. 

Even though they would inevitably be heading into a high tension-filled area, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami found this kind of silence comforting. Mainly because they were close to each other's presence which would constantly remind them that they are not alone.

Finally, then, the one who broke the contemplating silence was Aniela. Her eyes squinted on Azog Ice Town, and she started to say, 

"Ok. Before we get inside, let's go over our full-proof plan. One. Buy some intel. Two. Get an Inn Room. And three. Go to the Siren Blood Mage group."

"Saying it like that….our plan is more simplified than I thought…." Masami spoke with a mix of exasperation and tension in her tone. 

This was the plan that they spent days and nights on, yet Masami couldn't help but wonder about the things that could go wrong.

With somebody from her Sect having a high probability of roaming through this town, Masami couldn't push down these negative thoughts. 

And though she sighed at how simple Aniela put their plans, Masami had continued to say, "We also must not forget the number one rule for this mission. Avoid fox people at all costs!" 

Aniela rapidly nodded her head in fervent agreement. "Right, right! We basically can never take these masks off anywhere in this town."

While the girls talked, Darcel was continually spreading out his Innate Spirit Sense to Azog Ice Town and the surrounding area. And he felt legitimately impressed by the general aura here.

Even before they had arrived on this icy road to town, Darcel was already sensing the cultivator's auras changing the farther they left Spire Town. 

Now that they were close to Azog Ice Town, Darcel assumed this must be the high-class area of the Icy Cloud Province.

"We not only have to be mindful of fox cultivators but cultivators over here in general. I can already pick out numerous seventh and eighth-level Heavenly Kings before we even walk in the Town gates. We can't afford to carelessly provoke someone now."

"Fuuu….of course!" 

Aniela and Masami tried to reply to Darcel with some abundant vigor in their tones. Although, the tension slowly surging within their bodies could not stop at all.

There was so much danger and unknown situations up ahead of them and yet….Darcel, Aniela, and Masami never once had the thought to run away. 

The three, for sure, weren't overwhelmingly confident; in fact, they even felt a slight bit shaky.

However, despite running away seeming like the easier route, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami knew and didn't want to run away. 

The trio would escape from impossible to win fights or run to find some great treasure. But, for an overall problem like Masami's Sect, the trio had no choice but to face this.

And to even gain a small shot at facing the behemoth of a problem, they needed a change in their prowess. A change they desperately hope that the mysterious property of Magical Power has. 

Simultaneously, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami focus their minds. Their road to Mage hood starts right now.

….

Several thousand miles away from Darcel's group tracing all the way back to New Branch City, a few profound changes had occurred just here within a couple of days.

The main change on everyone's mind was the Mercenary Exchange Event finally coming to a close. 

With the strange happenings that had previously taken place within the City, residents alike were curious about what this year's result would be.

However, for this year specifically, there was no grand rewarding show. 

Immediately when the Mercenaries were kicked from the independent realm, they all swiftly headed back to their base of operations. 

The City Lords hadn't even bothered to come out to welcome the Mercenaries back, much less gifting any rewards. For ordinary residents, nobody could understand at all what was going on.

But for nearly all Mercenaries groups, they were delivered grave news that would severely impact them for years to come. 

At the Snow Angels district, they held a different atmosphere compared to everyone else.

Instead of being fraught with shock, despair, or even rage, they all managed to keep that trademark indifference they're known for. Unlike all other Mercenaries groups, they appeared to haven't suffered any losses, minor or major.

In fact, the regular and senior members were even graciously gifted with several treasure rewards that would surely quickly grow their strength in the near future. 

Everything seemed relatively standard for the Snow Angel group. 

But, within the top floor of their organization, a tense meeting was taking place. 

The strongest Snow Angel Leader Khyra, Snow Angel Leader Melea, and Captain Bella were all meeting in one room.

Though this was a meeting, none of them were talking. Instead, they were currently huddled around a desk, staring into an azure color Crystal orb. 

Khyra was clutching on the Crystal orb, causing it to only slowly pulsate with a faint energy signature.

Between the three of them, there was an apparent clash of expressions. While Khyra clutched on the Crystal orb, her expression was deathly ice cold. 

Within her pupils, there was a heavy layer of thick Killing Intent that could plunge someone to the depths of hell with just her mere gaze.

Melea's expression wasn't anywhere near as intense as Khyra's. She was intently focused on the slowly pulsating Crystal orb, but there wasn't much Killing Intent in her eyes.

In fact, there was almost a slightly pleading look within her eyes, as if she was hoping something else would come out of that Crystal orb. 

All the while, Bella was the only one wholly relaxed. She held a slightly relaxed smile as if she wasn't concerned about the Crystal Orb results at all. 

It almost really was like Bella already knew how this event would end.

Several minutes had already passed since Khyra first touched the Crystal Orb. And no matter how hard she tried, she could not make the Crystal Orb react in the way she wanted it.

Realizing that any more effort on her part would be for naught, Khyra sighed and let go of the Crystal Orb. 

Without looking back, she told Melea and Bella, "It appears to be of no use. Their traces….it just vanishes completely. Just how could they achieve this?"