Yin & Yang Pleasures of Cultivation

A wave of one incredible new was storming through the Snow Angel District's multi interconnected building. 

All the way at the top floor of their building, it was where the four Snow Angel Leaders resided. And currently inside another office besides Melea's, a meeting was taking place.

The office the meeting took place in was Snow Ange Leader Karis. 

And currently, Leader Karis was sitting behind her desk and across from her was a woman equal in beauty to her.

This woman had radiated a more proud beauty aura similar to Captain Zara. She had a darker skin complexion which looked distinctly different from the usual complexion most cultivators tend to have. However, it still looked positively gorgeous on her, emitting a more exotic beauty vibe.

The woman had far shorter hair compared to her companions, only falling down to slightly beyond her shoulder. But, her hair had a lustrous blue shine that sparkled like flowing water.

Her face had an enchanting allure as it was focused and determined, showcasing that she should not be undermined. 

Furthermore, her body was also a bit more lovely petite rather than sexily bombastic.  Her petite body thrown in a mix of a cutesy aura that surprisingly fit well with her proudful air that constantly permeated around her. 

This lovely petite woman was Snow Angel Leader Zillah. 

And both Leader Karis and Leader Zillah had several thoughts swirling in their minds.

Quite some time has passed since their fellow Leader Kryha had broken through to become a ninth-level Heavenly King. Word had swiftly spread in their group about it, causing every one of the Snow Angel members to be in a joyous mood.

Even for how subdue and quiet the Snow Angels members are, they couldn't contain their happiness on their Leader Kyrha reaching near the peak of the Heavenly Transformation realm.

Because of leader Kyrha's breakthrough, a thought nestled in all Snow Angel Member's minds. 

They all can finally be seen and fear as fierce competitors for the Mercenary Exchange Event!

Although their group certainly wasn't the weakest here, they definitely couldn't contend all that well against the strongest Mercenary groups. 

And they were always constantly just under the White Demon group in terms of overall power.

But now, with their ninth level Heavenly King Leader, they could finally take a firm stance and rise up in this year's event. 

The power of the ninth-level Heavenly Transformation realm is just that great.

Even several dozen eighth-level Heavenly Kings would find it nearly impossible to seriously harm one-ninth-level Heavenly King. A cultivator's Heavenly aura at the ninth level is on a whole other realm of prowess.

However, despite all this good news, something else was weighing on both Leader Karis and Leader Zillah's minds. 

Leader Karis opened up their meeting with, "Even with a historic feat like today, you too also think Leader Melea is acting a bit….strange. Stranger than how she usually is, right?"

Leader Zillah furrowed her eyebrows. "It's hard to tell. I don't know what happened yesterday, but she's awfully a lot more cheerier than she ever was. And I can't differentiate if this is normal or something good happened to her."

"Hmmm….maybe she's being hidden about something? I didn't think anything of it, before but yesterday, she quickly rushed out to help Captain Bella and Zara. And when returning, it was like her whole mood evolved."  Leader Karis couldn't forget the ever-present broad smile Melea had on her face that day. 

And when Leader Karis had mentioned the other Captains, Leader Zillah's mind began to divulge on a different mysterious topic.

Her eyes glowed up as she said, "Not only that but when they all come back, something about their general presence just felt….off. Leader Melea's presence could always be felt from miles away. But now, it's getting a bit tricky to tell if she's even on the same floor as us. It's like her presence is somehow diminishing."

Leader Karis's eyes similarly began to lit up. "Not only her. The young ones Lauren and Abby, Captain Zara, and even that damn lazy Captain Bella, they all are just a lot more trickier to detect. More suspicious is the fact all of these odd changes happened just a day ago."

And unknown to both Leader Karis and Leader Zillah, they were led a fool by Lauren, Abby, Zara, Bella, and even Melea. 

Though in just a span of the night, both Leaders found their presences just trickier to pick up, the fact was, those women were letting both Leaders sense them.

Whenever Melea would go for experiments outside her office, she practically walked circles around both Leader Karis and Zillah. 

But, they were both, of course, entirely unaware of this.

And whenever Melea had to go into a meeting with them, she adjusted her presence just enough so they wouldn't get too suspicious of her. 

The same thing happened with the rest of Darcel's Darkness servants, as they adjusted their presence just enough when leaving their own rooms.

However, there's still the plain fact that they all began abruptly switching up in just one day. So suspicion still inevitably arose in both Leader's minds. 

Zara, Bella, and Melea expected something like this to happen. Still, Darcel assured them even if they do suspect, it won't matter in the end.

"Hm, whether or not this is all just a string of coincidences, Leader Kyrha can simply deal with whatever troublesome thing they have brewing." Leader Zillah spoke in an utmost assured tone.

Leader Karis inclined her head in agreement. In their group now, even if it wasn't explicitly said, Leader Kyrha was quickly becoming the unanimous Leader among them. 

'Chi!' 

Suddenly then, a bright blue flash illuminated from Leader Zillah's pockets.

Immediately both Leader Karis and Zillah froze up. 

An incredible pure aura gushed out of the contact ring and stormed around the office like a tornado! 

Both Leader's eyes widened as their Spirit Sense got a sharp whiff of this fantastic aura.

A refreshing wave of energy cleared their minds and body just from this sliver of aura. With only just a tiny portion of the aura, Leader Karis and Zillah could positively say that was the purest Qi energy they had ever sensed in their lives!

It even far surpassed the pure Qi energy they could generate in their own building! 

Instinctively both women sprang to their feet; a rush of rising excitement was dawning both of their faces.

Leader Zillah quickly fished out the contact ring, her face showing an explosion of emotions she would rarely have in her life. 

She instantly spoke into the contact ring, saying in an overly eager tone that contrasted her proud personality,  "Leader Melea! This aura….this Qi energy! Just what the hell is this….no….for that matter, just where the hell are you?!" 

Leader Zillah is typically never the person to shout, but this incredibly vibrant Qi energy got her frantically wound up.

"Fufu~!" Melea's giggling voice echoed out from the contact ring. "So excited already, huh? Well then, what if I told you that Bella and I have just stumbled upon a Heavenly Crystalline treasure!"

Leader Karis and Zillah's awe was taken to the next level. 

They both, of course, heard of all those ancient tales about this treasure and its wondrous effects. But experiencing it in real-time….words simply couldn't do this Qi energy justice.

Leader Karis suddenly spoke up next, asking Melea, "Are you sure this is it? You're not mistaking it for something else, right?" 

"Oh? Leader Karis is also here? Perfect! And no, I'm not mistaking it. The Crystalline has a glorious rainbow glow, and it's spewing rainbow rays of light. It's almost too addicting to look at."

Leader Zillah went silent for a moment. After her initial excitement, her rational mind began to return. And she realized that it shouldn't be easy as this to just stumble upon a Heavenly treasure many would die for.

With some suspicions starting to nestle in her mind, Leader Zillah asked, "This is almost too good to be true….surely you must've seen or at least sensed someone close by. From what's told, only a Mage can make this Heavenly Treasure appear."

"Weell, there are signs of a great battle here. In front of the cave, there's a wide range of charred ground and fresh bloodstains. But when scouring all around this place, me and Bella didn't pick up on a single soul out there. Possibly, whoever fought must've ended in mutual destruction." Melea explained in an assured tone.

Leader Karis and Zillah fell silent again. They had no reason to doubt Melea's words, even if she was acting a bit stranger a day ago. 

Furthermore, their Spirit Senses clearly sensed this incredibly pure Qi energy, which adds to Melea's tale's believability.

Leader Karis and Zillah shared one last look at each other and nodded. 

Leader Karis told Melea then, "Ok, we'll head over there immediately. Leader Kyrha is still stabilizing her breakthrough, but once we make it there, I'm sure she'll be nearly done, and I'll ping her about it then."

"Excellent! Oooh….I just can't wait to take this back to our group! This will be life-changing for all of us!" 

Melea's chipper voice echoed out of the contact ring one more time before losing its luster, going silently dead.

Leader Zillah glanced up from her contact ring, and a sudden thought streaked into her mind. "Hey….didn't we get reports for the past weeks about the White Demon group suspiciously going around like they're preparing for their own treasure hunt?"

Leader Karis wrinkled her eyebrows. "I can tell you may think this is they're doing, right? But knowing the White Demon group, they're not so careless to leave something so important like this unattended. Moreover, I don't believe they would just carelessly die like how Melea described it."

Leader Zillah relented and shook her head. "No use in speculation now. The three of us combined face even a ninth-level Heavenly King for a little bit of time. Plus, Bella's Spirit Artifact would also help with any unexpected troubles. Let's go." 

Leader Karis didn't object, nodded her head, and they both quickly left the office.

….

A little bit while later. 

Leader Karis and Zillah were miles deep into the skies, going visually unseen by anyone. They were soaring straight to where Melea's contact ring had pinged them.

Leader Karis and Zillah didn't spare any expense as they tore through the air at top speeds, becoming a blur. 

Although they were so far up into the skies, going out of view, both Leaders still knew there was a chance for any other Mercenary group to sense them up here.

But, both Leaders were willing to take the risk for this Heavenly treasure. 

Plus, they both were also immensely confident in their prowess to deal with any unwanted followers.

As they traveled, both Leader's Spirit Senses were spread out for dozens of miles. They would be prepared for any human ambushes or sudden Bird-type Spirit Monster. 

However, after traveling several miles already, neither Leader Karis or Zillah sensed anything come up.

It was like just for today, everyone in New Branch City was busy, and all Spirit Monsters had cleared out in the Wild Snow lands. 

Despite the lack of beings, Leader Karis and Zillah soldier on.

It wasn't until they made it within a couple of miles of the Heavenly Crystalline spot that Leader Karis and Zillah finally experienced a change. 

They both abruptly stopped flying as a heavy stench instantly assaulted their noses.

"Nnn….very rarely would I sense a stench so rotten like this. The stench of death." Leader Karis scrunched up her face while talking. 

The same sentiment was shared by Leader Zillah as she similarly scrunched up her face.

Though both Leaders were no stranger to the rancid smell of death, there was something about this stench that was absolutely putrid. 

"We're basically close to the place. And Melea did mention signs of a battle that took place. Let's check it out." Leader Zillah suggested, and Karis nodded.

They both quickly lowered themselves to the ground expecting a bloody sight. But halfway towards getting to the ground, both Leader Karis and Zillah's eyes widened at what they witnessed.