Yin & Yang Pleasures of Cultivation

Aniela deeply sighed as her feet sizzled on a torch, bloody red ground with each step she took. The same fiery hell Darcel is currently going through was no different for Aniela.

It was chilling, torturous, and grueling. 

But Aniela had no expressions in giving up. 'Haah….Darcy always supporting me even when he's not here. And because of my little fox, I have just enough of that extra boost to survive this crappy hell.'

In the depths of Aniela's pupils, the signature deep Darkness glow of her Darkness Soul link shimmered. 

Initially, her own soul, white Light energy, did help her resist the fiery hell.

Like Darcel, with no Qi or Spirit Sense, Aniela would've been dead just getting transported to this place. However, thanks to her white Light soul energy, Aniela felt as if she could make it through here. 

So with her confidence rising, Aniela had begun to cautiously walk.

But almost immediately, the fiery hell became too much from her. Just a mere few steps and her body couldn't move from the burning pain. Her feet had sunken to the blood-red ground, becoming trapped.

And making matters even more torturous for her, a gush of red smoke had flown past Aniela.

It nearly took all of her breath away and painfully suffocated her. Aniela was on the verge of collapsing then.

But right on the verge of death, Aniela refused to give up. 

How could she give up? She needed to see her cute lovers! And it was then her Darkness Soul link chaotically surge!

An incredible boost of power ran through Aniela as an automatic defense. It gave Aniela the energy to resist the fiery hell and inspire her with the determination to trudge through the torture.

Aniela's trapped sunken feet had burst through the ground, and she forced past the red smoke, leading to her current slow walk. 

In her mind, all she needed to remember the smiling faces of Darcel and Aniela to never quit.

Aniela continued on one straight path, believing she'll eventually make it to the end this way. The path she traversed on was relatively clear, only eerie chilling red skulls littered in front of her.

The enormous fiery mountains were a ways off from her, so the lava spilling over there wouldn't spill over to her. 

Aniela was walking carefully and slowly through fiery hell, taking several minutes just to traverse several meters.

The farther she got, the more oddities she began to notice. 

Now she passed by a few blood-red trees with human skulls adorned at the top. And there was even blood-red grass sprouting from the ground.

Aniela found it curious on how such an environment could even grow here. But she had enough common sense to not try her luck and investigate. 

As she continued on, Aniela thought while the pain may be agonizing, at least she didn't have to fight! 

But immediately when she thought she was scott free from fighting, 

"Rwarg!!" 

The ferocious cry of a vicious beast boomed into Aniela's ears. And her face turned ludicrous.

'That just has to be a coincidence….oh.' Aniela's expression fell even more as several meters away from her, a blood-red lion was rushing straight at her! 

The blood-red lion had sparks of fire sizzling from its fur, its eyes were savage and red foam crazily spurts from its mouth.

Aniela sighed at her luck. Thankfully, she didn't feel any pressure or suppression from the beast, meaning it was most likely mortal like her. 

Its speed even highlighted this as Aniela saw it was slower than even a first layer Qi Foundation beast.

Though Aniela lost all of her cultivation power, she could still remember that even a first layer Qi Foundation being, human or Spirit Monster, will far surpass any mortal peak limitations.

And at their distance, it gave Aniela enough time to prepare for the incoming wild, ravenous beast. 

With no Spirit Qi or her bloodline power and just soul energy, Aniela had to rely on her basic fighting instinct.

But, her body still hasn't healed at all from her previous injuries, so Aniela also has to make this fight short and sweet. 

Aniela waited until the blood lion came just close enough where it tense its body to pounce at her.

The blood-red lion got within a mere few feet from Aniela, briefly stopped, and lunged straight at her head! 

The blood-red lion lunge was quick, but Aniela wasn't afraid.

Her Darkness Soul link responded to her desire, filling her with the power to kill the beast. Aniela planted her feet to the ground and, right at the last second, slightly shift out of the way of the blood-red lion lunge.

However, the blood-red lion still managed to viciously bite down right on Aniela's right shoulder. 

Aniela clenched her teeth as blood spurted out of her and pain wracked her mind.

But Aniela didn't waste any time. 

Immediately when she was bitten, Aniela's left hand sparked in an intense Darkness soul glow, and she stabbed her hand straight towards the blood-red lion head.

By her Darkness Soul link's boosted power, Aniela's hand went faster than the blood-red lion could react to. Her hand appeared as a Darkness streak, drilling deep into the blood-red lion's head.

Aniela's Darkness glowing hand broke through the blood-red lion's skull like hot butter, piercing straight into its brain. 

The blood-red lion life instantly slipped away from it, and the light left its beating red eyes.

A numbing sensation coursed through Aniela's shoulder and arm; she sucked in a breath of pain while lifting the dead red lion off from her shoulder. 

Gazing at her right shoulder, there were now deep teeth marks gashes gushing out blood.

To at least stop the bleeding, Aniela put her Darkness glowing hand on her injured bloody shoulder, injecting a warm sensation there. A spark of her white Light soul energy sparked and mixed in with the Darkness glow.

It took a couple of minutes, but the bleeding slowly stopped.

But that was as far Aniela could heal herself. The numbing only silently lessened, but the tremendous pain was ever-present.

Holding her shoulder, Aniela continued on, her thoughts center on reuniting with her Darcy and her little fox.

….

"Geh! There's just no end to this damn place!" Masami spat out a blotch of blood while her foot stood over the dead corpse of a bone red rhino. 

Both of her hands were ignited in a blue-Darkness mixed glow, and blood dripped down both of her arms.

From the depths of Masami's eyes, her Darkness Soul link intensely surged, continuously providing her power to survive this hell. 

When entering this place, Masami didn't wait at all.

She wanted to rush through this place in the shortest amount of time possible, and her Darkness Soul link responded to her wishes. 

Masami had gritted her teeth barreling through the fiery hell as her Darkness Soul link provided her just enough power to resist.

And it didn't take long at all before she began to encounter the savage beasts that roamed this fiery hell. 

Masami had no other choice in the battered state of her body but to get up close and personal with every vicious beast.

For every blow she traded on her body, Masami killed a beast. And with each injury carved into her body, Masami's Darkness Soul link had stabilized her injuries to at least keep her conscious.

Her Darkness Soul link couldn't do anything about the pain, however. 

Masami had to learn to forcefully suck up the pain in order to continue. Even for the most battle hungry and deranged cultivators, not even they could trudge through this kind of torture.

But, Masami had a fiery will burning in her eyes. 

Every time she had even the slightest of doubts about giving up, her Darkness Soul link would pulsate, inspiring her with the confidence to continue.

The confidence to see the ones that provided her warmth in her life.

Still, as Masami took her foot off the bone red rhino corpse, she took a look over her whole body. Blood was pouring out of her seven orifices, and she felt several of her ribs cracked.

'Darcel….our damn soul link is a blessing and a curse!' Without her cultivation powers, her deep wounds and injuries should've killed her ten times over.

But because her Darkness Soul link, it provided her body with enough healing energy to keep herself just near the verge of collapsing. A blessing and a torturous curse.

Shaking her head, Masami began to walk. But only after a couple of steps, Masami started to feel a bit delirious. 

After all those injuries, it was starting to catch up with her bits by bits.

Her Darkness Soul link could heal injuries and help mental states, but it couldn't do much for stamina.

Masami just wanted something, anything that could help alleviate the pain. As she stopped to wearily look around the fiery hellscape, Masami finally saw it.

Only a few feet away from her, just several steps she could take, a blood-red tree had something vastly different from all other trees. 

Instead of the horrifying human skulls on top of the tree, this one had several big round juicy fruits hanging off its branches.

The fruits were in an apple shape, glistening with mouth-watering juices. Somehow, despite being surrounded by a terrible environment, those apple-like fruits looked incredibly ripe and ready to eat.

Masami's eyes were drawn to the tree. Her gaze lingered there for several seconds. Temptations swirled in Masami's mind; this could be what she wanted during her whole time here.

Something juicy and refreshing that could heal her right up. 

But instead of walking up, Masami smirked to herself. "Foolish tricks. I won't fall for such lowly temptations."

Masami had then turned her attention back on the road. However, the light-headed feeling still didn't clear up for her. It was quickly dawning on Masami that she couldn't just forcefully continue like this.

If she were to make even the slightest of mistake, then she could kiss her life goodbye. 

The wild, vicious beast here will capitalize on even the smallest of mistakes. 

To get through here, Masami knows she's going to have to break past her current shell. The shell of her loss of power and near mortality. 

Masami closed her eyes and recalled why she is going through all of this agonizing hell. And the bright smiling faces of Darcel and Aniela immediately popped into her mind.

'That's right….for them….I want to-I to have to see them again. Our linked soul, it keeps on responding to my desire. And I'll use it to break out of here!' 

Masami concentrated deep inside herself, looking into her heart and harmonizing with the love she has for Darcel and Aniela. 

In this still state, her soul energy went static, allowing for the agonizing fire to surge through her feet. But Masami ignored the pain, focusing intensely on the pulsating feeling of her Darkness Soul link.

Nothing happened for one minute, two minutes, three minutes, and when it finally seemed like it would be a burst.

'Chi!' 

Masami flung her eyes open, showcasing them to be in a deep Darkness haze! Slowly, Masami felt her lightheadedness go down as her Darkness Soul link gradually increased in power. 

'We may be separated, but I can still feel you two. We're all close by.'

….

Back with Darcel, he was in the same bloody and battered state as Aniela and Masami. 

Numerous deep wounds and injuries carved into her body, looking like he should be dead already. 

But there was one crucial change that occurred in Darcel. His eyes was in a deep Darkness hazy glow! 

Just like what Masami managed to pull off! 

'Haaah….I can feel it. We're not together, but our feelings keep on growing to get through this hell. Aniela….Masami, I'm relying on you two.'

The slow and steady surge of their Darkness Soul link power was pushing Darcel through the fiery hell. 

As the most experienced with his Yin Pleasure skills, Darcel assumed the girls must not be that far away from him.

Just minutes ago, Darcel felt his Darkness Soul link pulsate, growing in power and spewing out Aniela and Masami's feelings to him. The better they could harmonize with their feelings, the more powerful their Darkness Soul link can grow.

At least that's what Darcel felt like was happening. 

He wasn't a hundred percent sure since he couldn't thoroughly analyze it with his Spirit Sense. But because he felt like Aniela and Masami were literally right by him, it made the most logical sense of what's happening.

As Darcel kept on steadily walking, he passed by the run of the mill blood-red skull tree. 

Darcel, of course, didn't think much of it and ignored the tree. However, when he walked several steps away, the branches suddenly started to shake!

"Awah!!" 

Out from the top of the tree, a big blood red baboon came blitzing out. It quickly sailed to Darcel, who went entirely still. 

Darcel only shifted his body slightly to the right, and he soon felt the blood-red baboon's claws pierced deeply into his left shoulder.

But, instantaneously, Darcel whipped around and snatched up the large blood-red baboon before it could continue its assault. The terrifying-looking baboon struggled to breathe as Darcel's hand crushed its neck.

Not minding his recent injury, Darcel reared his other fist and plunged it right into the blood-red baboon's chest. Darcel's fist tore right through its bodily defenses and pierced through its heart.

Without a change in expression, Darcel pulled his bloody fist out, which was now covered with blood-red baboon guts. 

Darcel didn't react to the gruesome sight and tossed the blood-red baboon corpse out of his face.

Keeping his focus up, Darcel quickly turned back around and hasten his trudge through the fiery hell.