Yin & Yang Pleasures of Cultivation

"Well? Spit out the good news already." Masami impatiently said, entirely unaware of the slight oddity Darcel managed to sense within Zara's tone. 

Before Zara talked, Darcel briefly glanced at Aniela. Even for the slightest of movement, Darcel can tell if Aniela was able to pick up on vague things. 

Yet, she, like Masami, didn't pick up on the slight change in Zara's voice.

Darcel thought back on it, from this morning and now; this makes two times where he can sense vague feelings in others, but Aniela and Masami seemingly can't.

Darcel could understand why his Darkness Servants wouldn't be able to have this ability. 

However, Aniela and Masami were in a league of their own. They both are essentially his equals in their shared Darkness Soul links.

Although, it's shaping up to Darcel that he may still hold some uniqueness compared to Aniela and Masami. Darcel pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind for later experiments and continued listening to Zara.

Zara lifted her head to match gazes with Darcel and the girls. 

She got over her split hesitation and, with a clear look, began telling the trio, "Lauren and Abby did exceedingly well. They can now hide from sixth level Heavenly Kings Spirit Sense. Leader Melea also did good, but she's on my level, only having the ability to hide from seventh-level Heavenly Kings. And Bella….well she somehow far more advanced than all three of us. She can now perfectly hide from even Leader Melea Spirit Sense."

Though Zara didn't want to admit it, she had to forcefully acknowledge Bella's talent is quite good. Perhaps even slightly above her. Even before they all went under their new Master, Zara knew Bella always had a talent for instantly learning new things.

The only major problem in Bella's learning that also sows discord between her and Zara was the fact that Bella never seriously pursued anything. 

Bella would quickly pick up something but never take a chance to seriously study upon it. Sometimes she would even forget about a previous helpful talent she quickly learned.

And her reasoning frustrated the dutiful Zara to no end. 

Bella had consistently claimed every time when Zara asked why did she quit, 'Why do I need to strive for more? I'm perfectly comfy like this.' 

The mere fact that Bella never put her skills to good for the whole Snow Angel group was always a point of contention for Zara.

However, now, there was nothing Zara could genuinely say. 

Bella is using her excellent talent for the good of their Master and their whole Snow Angel group. Plus, she was even still cultivating when Zara had arrived at Bella's room to get her results.

Zara would rarely feel this in her life. But she couldn't help but feel slightly envious at how greater gifted a lazy colleague of hers is. 

And all of these negative, chaotic feelings were transmitted to Darcel.

Darcel couldn't pinpoint why Zara was envious at the moment, but he for sure knew it was something related to Bella as he felt Zara's envy feelings spike when mentioning her.

Darcel doesn't really consider himself as a good or nice guy, just so willing to help out anyone's mental problems. 

But with Zara's envy, Darcel already had several ideas in mind on how he can develop this emotion reading ability in his Darkness Soul link.

For now, though, Darcel focused on the first task at hand. He began telling Zara, "So she can hide from eighth levels. Alright then, Zara, I want you to go back and devise a strategy with Bella on how she can get the most of spying on the White Demon group with this new ability. With all of your combined experiences, I trust this will be easy. And just one more-"

Darcel abruptly stopped talking as his Spirit Sense went off. 

His eyes immediately zipped to the sky to spot one approaching figure swiftly flying through the air.

Aniela, Masami, and Zara as well sensed this figure and had trailed their gazes to the sky at the same time. 

Before this powerful person even got close to them, everyone there felt a sudden shift in the temperature.

A high heat signature formed as a widespread aura around this person and directly counteracted the Plunged Tundra's freezing cold. The air seemed to intensely burn around this figure.

Darcel, Aniela, Masami, and Zara sensed this level of power was from a ninth level Heavenly King!

And as this person approached closer to their group, the temperature only raised. Although, neither Darcel, Aniela, or Masami were impressed by this brazen feat. 

Masami had even scoffed slightly, saying, "Hmph, this guy seems well confident and well arrogant. Even if you were a mile away from him, you could still feel this guy heat. Honestly doesn't seem like a smart move showing off like this during a time for an intense competition."

Throughout this entire time, Zara had her eyes squinted on the upcoming figure. And finally, when the man revealed himself by flying past over them, Zara's eyes instantly brightened.

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami could just vaguely make out the man's appearance. 

From even several miles high into the sky, they could tell he had shiny bright short blonde hair and wore a bright, luxurious golden robe that just screamed pride.

And that was the best the trio could make of the man as he didn't stop when flying over Darcel's group. The man didn't sense Darcel, Aniela, or Masami at all. 

After all, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami never stopped masking their presence since leaving the Inn.

And that golden robe man only vaguely sensed a seventh-level Heavenly King aura. But it obviously wasn't anything worthy for him to stop and pay attention to. 

As the golden robe man flew by them, Zara suddenly started talking. "Master! That's a high-ranking member of the Golden Crow Circle! We should follow them." 

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami snapped back their attention to Zara while keeping their Spirit Sense on that golden robe man.

Their heads tilted curiously as none of them heard of this group before now. 

Though they were planning on gathering more intel on the Mercenary group here, Darcel wanted to assemble their own power before going for intel.

Raising their own realms and having a powerful force under them will create a strong safety net for his team to fall back on when traversing these Mercenary groups. 

Aniela and Masami were on the same train of thoughts, both knowing the importance of having a stable strength before doing anything.

But since the opportunity has presented itself, Darcel asked then, "And just who are these Golden Crow Circle?" 

"Master, they are the strongest Mercenary group in the whole Province. They're even just under the most powerful sects in top-ranked cities of the Plunged Tundra. But very recently, like we suspect with all other Mercenary groups, they may have an explosive increase in power."

Zara stopped for a second and glanced over at Masami. She continued to say, "And to your point, Mistress, they are indeed acting very brazenly. But the oddest thing is, this group was never known for doing this. In fact, all of their actions, like this one, contradict how they behaved in the previous years. I can fill you all in on it later, but for now, we shouldn't let him leave alone."

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami quickly contemplated Zara's intel. Truthfully, none of them feared the supposed strongest Mercenary group. 

Even if they have groups of tenth-level Heavenly Transformation cultivators, it won't sway the trio's minds in the slightest.

Although going by what Zara told them, they now seem worthy enough in only temporarily checking out. 

And even if they were to clash with that golden robe man, the trio knows they can beat him easily either solo or together.

"So if it is as you say, then let's go, guys. That crow member won't wait for us." Aniela already had her mind decided and started slowly walking towards where the Golden Crow Circle member flew off.

"Golden Crow Circle, huh? Quite an overcompensating name for a Mercenary group. Let's see what the so-called strongest has for us." Masami followed in Aniela's lead, walking just behind her.

Before leaving, Darcel told Zara, "Ok, Zara, go back to Bella and provide her with any help she needs. This guy won't sense us, so no problem should arise from tailoring him."

Darcel smirked as he felt Zara's emotions turned slightly chaotic at the thought of having to provide help to Bella. 

But Zara didn't let it show, only nodding to Darcel, saying to him, "Understood, Master."

And with that, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami explosively increased their speeds, blasting straight towards the Golden Crow Circle member. 

Although they managed to control their powers where no huge noise leaked from their speeds. 

Zara took one last look at where the trio sprinted off too before turning back around, flying off back towards the City.

….

Dozens of miles away from New Branch City, a fiercely aggressive-looking man blazed through the sky. 

This man had luminously bright golden hair that was quite literally impossible to ignore. It was the equivalent of a bright mini sun shining on the top of his head.

This man dawned a constant straight, no-nonsense, daunting expression permanently etched onto his face. Just one direct gaze from him and even strong will people could feel shivers crawl up their spines. 

This man was the Golden Crow Circle member Darcel's group previously saw. And he was still tearing through the air. But as he flew further away from New Branch City, so did his previous brazen aura decrease.

The man's speed also began to slow as he traveled further. 

One mile later, the golden robe man began to lower himself to the ground. He swiftly approached a small cave that was currently filled with gray mixed snow.

The man stopped just a few feet from the cave and patiently waited. 

As he waited, the man made sure to expand his Spirit Sense dozens of miles out. Though he was sure he didn't sense anything when coming up here, it never hurts to double-check.

The man only needed a second to cover miles of distance, and still, he didn't sense anything. 

Suddenly then, the cave's gray mixed snow began splitting apart. The man quickly refocused his attention as someone slowly walked out of the cave.

The one who appeared was another Golden Crow Circle member. Only this man's clothes showed he was in a superior position. 

He wore a mix of bright orange and golden robes with the elegant design of the God Beast Golden Crow crafted on it. Chained around his neck was also a bright golden necklace in the shape of a crow.

However, what people would first notice about this man wasn't his clothes but his aura. 

This man radiated the powerful suffocating aura only belonging to someone at the tenth level of the Heavenly Transformation realm!

He was an actual peak level Heavenly King! 

And this man's gaze was incredibly sharp as his eyes trailed around the area. He suddenly began talking, telling the other man, 

"Surprised no one followed you, Asari. These rat spies are becoming increasingly troublesome."

Despite being in the presence of a mighty tenth-level Heavenly King, Asari still kept a dignified look. He was only a little bit affected by this man suffocating aura, but he didn't let any discomfort show on his face.

Asari merely shrugged a bit, telling the man, "It's just like you said, Crow Sone. Everyone may be getting lucky, but showing off a bit of actual true power gets people suspicious but also pathetically afraid."

Asari paused for a moment, trailing his eyes down at Sone's hands. "So I know if that was done already, it would've been shown off to me the first second I got here. So what exactly have you called me for? You were quite vague before."

A hint of a smirk curled up Sone's lips. "It's actually quite recent news I have. I'm sure you heard of Province day converging, right?"