Yin & Yang Pleasures of Cultivation

A brief period of silence fell between Darcel, Aniela, and Masami. Their eyes were filled with curiosity and wonder as they gazed upon the rainbow-colored Royal Orb. 

The beauty of the orb nearly reminded the trio of other rainbow color treasures they discovered in the past.

Although, this Royal Orb definitely stood distinctly above anything they saw before. The crystal layer that covered the whole orb had an incomparably beautiful shine. 

It sparkled better than shine refracting off from the crystal Ice in the Frozen Prison Domain. 

Furthermore, the Royal Orb simply exuded an unforgettable, magnetic aura. The trio couldn't, nor did they want to pull their gazes away.

It was like just merely looking at the Royal Orb was putting them under a trance. Then, after a few moments of silently staring, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami simultaneously blinked their eyes.

They seemingly awoke from their trance, a bit surprised they got so enraptured with its appearance and aura. 

As they reorient themselves, neither Darcel, Aniela, or Masami had any freezing energy invading their bodies. Because of their own bodies, special regenerative abilities from their bloodline, the wound on their shoulder was already closing up.

The only thing affecting them was a drain of their Qi energy and bloodline powers reserves. 

After only a moment, Darcel and Aniela quickly refocused themselves on what they needed to do next.

While Masami loudly clapped her hands, gaining Darcel and Aniela's attention, and blurted out, "Ok! Now that we finally have this orb, I hope all of this shit will be worth it. So, we just gotta touch it, right?"

"Yea….that's what Siren Blade said. I don't sense anything else around here, so I guess it's safe enough to do. Let's get this over with." 

Darcel mentally prepared himself. This moment will be the defining choice of his life.

To cross over a seemingly impossible boundary and achieve a legend barely anyone in the Nine Provinces had ever heard of, Darcel was ready to achieve it. But above all, he wanted to gain this power to finally deal with Masami's Family.

Aniela and Masami also felt similar determination bubbled up within them. Although, they were more determined to simply gain power for the protection of their team. 

The girls weren't even fully considering Masami's Family. They were just too worried about the numerous threats to their lives. And Mage Power would undoubtedly help lessen these constant threats. 

After taking a moment to calm themselves, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami crouched down around the Royal Orb.

Right before touching it, they studied the sleek, colorful design of the Royal Orb. At that moment, each of them felt a magnetic pull towards the orb. 

Then, without them even realizing it, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami reached out their hands, touching the Royal Orb.

In the very instance, the trio made slight contact with the Royal Orb; they all immediately went rigid. Their once focused eyes quickly turned unclear, falling into a magical trance.

Within Darcel, Aniela, and Masami's bodies, several massive changes were occurring. 

In each of their Soul's core, their Chaotic Shard quickly pulsated a harsher green light. A sliver of Chaotic energy leaked out of their Soul's core, heading directly towards their half-formed Magical Seeds.

The exact same process was also occurring within their Dantian. The small portion of Chaotic Energy in their Dantian was quickly stimulating the half-formed Magical Seeds there. 

A whole two seconds passed. 

And immediate changes began to occur in the outside world. First, the Royal Orb began to intensely shine, spewing out blinding rainbow color light rays. 

Nearly instantly, the whole ruined Ice temple was engulfed in the Royal Orb's blinding shine. 

Even outside the ruined Ice temple, anybody would be able to see the rainbow color shine from miles away.

At the same time the Royal Orb was glowing up, the air around Darcel, Aniela, and Masami changed. 

A form of energy, entirely different from any Qi energy, started to pool into the trio.

This form of energy was known only as Magical Energy! 

Within Darcel, Aniela and Masami, their half-formed Magical Seeds was becoming a magnetic attraction for Magical Energy. 

As Magical Energy streamed into the trio, each of them was experiencing its profound sensation. In their tranced state, they focused entirely on comprehending this Magical Energy. 

The trio felt like it was slowly unraveling a puzzle that was once so confusing to them.

Then, as the seconds quickly trickled by, the Magical Energy around the trio started to increase. 

At speeds that would leave all Mages utterly bewildered, Darcel, Aniela and Masami were rapidly increasing their rate of absorbing Magical Energy. 

The longer they experienced the sensations of Magical Energy, the stronger and quicker their comprehension of it developed. 

Seconds began to turn into minutes. 

And Dracel, Aniela, and Masami were nearing the very borders of achieving a monumental breakthrough.

But right as they got close, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami suddenly felt a tremendous mental block! It was like they ran at a steel wall at full speed, awakening each of them from their Magical Trance.

Immediately, their unfocused eyes cleared up, and the Royal Orb pulsated with immense power. 

'Chi!' 

"Ahh!!"

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami were taken entirely off guard, getting flung away like leaves when the Royal Orb suddenly pulsated.

Before they rolled far away, the trio quickly stopped themselves, promptly standing right back up. Their gazes narrowed on the Royal Orb for a brief moment. 

They couldn't focus on it for even a second later when they all felt a stinging pain from their palms.

Tossing their eyes down towards their hands, the trio became even more surprised when seeing a long charred mark at the center of their palms. 

"Fuck! What the hell was that?! If it wasn't for whatever that was, I for sure felt like I was going to breakthrough!" Masami was cursing out her rage without any filter. 

Her frustration could be understood, though. It was like a hard-earned reward she was working towards got ruthlessly pulled out from her all in a span of a split moment.

Compared to Masami's frustration, Aniela had an expression filled with shock. Her eyes couldn't leave her palm as she was subconsciously muttering out, 

"A mental block! That really was one. This….this has to be the first time I've experienced that."

'So this has to be why so few cultivators can become Mages. That mental block is something else. Plus, that Royal Orb had such a visceral reaction.' Darcel was quickly connecting the dots in his head.

In terms of comprehension of talent, Darcel didn't think he was being boastful in thinking he and the girls are most likely among the best in the entire Continent. 

As of now, each of them could comprehend Innate Qi as easily as sleeping. 

And Innate Qi wasn't simple at all to comprehend. 

Most genius cultivators would usually rely on comprehending a cultivation manual to help with understanding Innate Qi.

A cultivation manual would give any cultivator profound insight into cultivation as a whole. This would allow them to, in turn, comprehend bits and pieces of the complex properties of Innate Qi.

This is also why it's not uncommon or even bad at all if someone spends dozens of years in the Innate Core realm. 

Surmounting each level and forming a crack in one's dantian core requires a level of comprehension far beyond any average cultivator. 

However, none of these rules apply to either Darcel, Aniela, or Masami. With a simple thought, they could comprehend Innate Qi. They all have absolute ease, not needing any type of cultivation manual to get through this realm.

The only reason they can't repeatedly breakthrough is because of the amount of Innate Qi energy they require for each level. 

Compared to even the highest of geniuses, the amount of Innate Qi energy the trio needs would utterly astound anyone in the Continent. 

With all this in mind, Darcel knows their comprehension needs to be absolutely perfect. Even though they quickly comprehend Magical Energy, they still needed a more significant push to fully become Mages.

"Hmph! No matter if we fail this time, we'll just try again! I know you're thinking that our comprehension skills are already insane enough, Darcel. So let's just jump right back to it!"

Masami already regained her confidence, completely ignoring the pain stinging her hand. 

"Yea, you're absolutely right, Darcy! Our comprehension is at a great boundary. There's no way we can fail this." Aniela similarly regained her confidence. 

Even though both girls didn't hear anything from Darcel, they could still feel his general thoughts from his Darkness Soul link.

Darcel wasn't too surprised the girls could achieve this. The closer and stronger their soul bonds are, the more they could understand each other's base thoughts. 

Although for heavier issues that require going deep within their mental psyche, none of them could achieve that yet. 

Focusing his mind off from that, Darcel nodded towards the girls and told them, "Alright. Just keep focus this time and push through no matter what. We can become Mages, but it will be a bit tricky to do so." 

Then, once again, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami strolled up to the Royal Orb, crouched down, and touched it.

Because they already experienced the whole sensation in full, the trio didn't take long at all before reaching the borders of a Magical breakthrough. 

This time, they didn't allow themselves to fall into a Magical Trance.

They intently focused their minds, thoroughly feeling out even the slightest sensation of Magical Energy. Then, in only several seconds, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami once again felt that immovable Mental Block. 

Prepared this time, the trio attempted to force right on through the Mental Block. 

However, this method soon proved to be far more complicated than they thought. The trio felt it was like trying to force their way through powerful quicksand, very slow and arduous. 

But before this process could even continue a second longer, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami's Chaotic Shards reacted. 

A small stream of Chaotic Energy streamed right towards their minds causing them to immediately feel like their horizons have tremendously expanded!

All at once, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami felt their comprehension crazily hasten to speeds they never thought was possible before. 

However, right as the trio was about to push directly through this mental block, the Royal Orb once again pulsated with power.

And this time, its Magical Power massively increased, becoming a colossal tidal wave that once again took the trio for a shocking surprise. 

'Chi!' 

"Ahh!!' 

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami were practically blasted away from the Royal Orb pulsate of power.

While sailing in midair, the trio promptly caught themselves and flipped back onto their feet. Their gazes intently focused on the Royal Orb, each of them experiencing a different set of emotions.