Chapter 170: Divine Spirits


    "Back during our time in the Blessed Spirit Province, we happened toe upon a mysterious Spirit girl. She was in a ce called the Asylum of Mysteries. Do you know anything about this ce, Masami?"


    Darcel exined and asked the fox girl. Considering that she does live in a far more prosperous and abundant resourceful ce, Darcel thought they could probably find a silver of a clue from her.


    "No clue." Masami simply shook her head, squashing the little bit of hope both Darcel and Ani had.


    But after denying it, Masami put her hand to her chin.


    "Weeell.actually.can you give me more of a description about this Spirit girl?"


    Ani took it upon herself to answer and told Masami, "Ah.she''s a very mysterious one. That girl essentially forced us toe to her. Her power is also immeasurable! She forcefully put us inside our own soul space and could even easily invade it. Though, her power did help us get out of a tight spot one time."


    Both Ani and Darcel immediately recalled the time they faced against those vile creatures and decrypted men. And as they remember, the duo also realized since that time, they barely use Sariel''s power anymore.


    They especially don''t need it now since those diamond shards are infused into their souls.


    Masami processed the information, and her mind came to an immediate conclusion. "Hmm.and you''re saying that kind of Spirit has a presence in these shards. That Sariel girl may just be.a Divine Spirit!"


    Darcel and Ani raised their eyebrows at Masami''s conclusion.


    They never heard of a Divine Spirit even after all the information gathering they did in the Zakira Academy.


    Sensing their confusion, Masami smirked and exined, "Hmph! You see, it''s not only you guys, but lots of people also don''t know about Divine Spirits. My Grandmother taught me that on this whole, there exist many unique and powerful Divine beings. But none of these Divine beings can be so easily found. Hence why barely anyone knows about them. And Grandma told me that meeting any one of these beings will cause your whole life to get blessed! Though.she was really vague on the whole blessed part and what does it actually mean."


    Darcel and Ani linked Masami''s exnation to what they remembered about Sariel.


    And for sure, she does fit that description.


    Nobody knows about her, and they could say she blessed their lives in some way.


    Still, both Darcel and Ani felt as if there''s something more about Sariel. They recalled that sliver of power she demonstrated to them, and the duo just had a faint feeling.


    That kind of probably goes far beyond a Divine Spirit.


    Ani shook her head, knowing it wasn''t all that useful to specte with so little information. "That''s probably what she is. But we have very little to go on besides a vague feeling we experienced some time ago. So let''s move on to the main event!"


    Ani turned her attention to the enormous blue silverish stone still floating in mid-air. "This stone''s mere presence is so mysterious. Its energy just has to be tremendous!"


    Darcel, Ani, and Masami huddled around the massive stone.


    Their eyes nearly got lost in its luxurious luster. Moreover, they also felt a greater amount of simr Chaotic Energy qualitying from the stone.


    "Let''s see if we can make this stone our own." ''Darcel confidently spoke and reached out to grab the stone.


    Immediately when he made the slightest of contact with the stone, Darcel felt his body intensely shiver!


    Frost swiftly formed his hand and the chills shivering his spine quickly got worse with each passing split second.


    <em>''Chi!" </em>


    The cold was so incredibly terrible, it forced Darcel to automatically burst his bloodline state to full power!


    A Darkness glow shrouded Darcel''s bloodline arm, alleviating some of the cold. But there was still a sliver of freezing cold nestling throughout Darcel''s body.


    And when Darcel unleashed his bloodline state without warning, both Ani and Masami burst their bloodline state as well so they wouldn''t get flung by Darcel''s powerful aura.


    "Eh??" Both girls confusedly shouted simultaneously.


    Masami''s eyes noticed how there was still a bit of frost on Darcel''s hand, plus his body was shivering a bit.


    "Is it really that cold? Let me see." Masami cautiously put her hand on the blue silverish stone. And despite being in her fire fox cloak, Masami still felt an extreme cold shiver up her spine!


    It didn''t matter if her hand was literally on fire; small bits of frostbite also formed on Masami''s hand.


    "Hmph! What the hell is this??"


    Ani looked between Darcel and Masami, shrugging her shoulders.


    "I guess that just leaves me then." Ani put her hand on the blue silverish stone and wasn''t surprised when an immense cold chilled her body.


    Small bits of frostbite appeared on her glowing white hand, signifying just how cold it was. "And yep! This thing really is that cold!"


    Darcel looked between his hand, Ani''s hand, and Masami''s hand. And seeing as none of them were encased in a block of ice, Darcel gained an idea.


    "Since it''s not hurting us and only causing colds in us. Let''s see if we can try and move this thing."


    "Alright!" Both Ani and Masami nodded, not all too bothered by the freezing cold.


    All three of them already have a high tolerance to the cold anyway. Experiencing this freezing temperature wasn''t much to the trio.


    At the same time, Darcel, Ani, and Masami clenched their hold over the stone. Darcel spoke then, telling the girls,


    "On three. One.two.three!"


    Immediately, the trio attempted to pull the stone towards them at the same time. They strained themselves, yet none of them could move.


    Shock ran through Darcel, Ani, and Masami''s eyes.


    Despite joining together, this blue silverish stone wouldn''t budge a single inch! And it''s not like the triocked physical strength.


    Even though none of them cultivates a Bodily technique, Qi still transforms any cultivator''s physiques to be more powerful.


    And the trio knows after all their previous breakthroughs, they could shatter the toughest of diamond materials with ease.


    Darcel, Ani, and Masami briefly stopped.


    They exchanged a look between each other and nodded. Simultaneously, their powers explosively increased! Their bloodline auras quickly reached their peak as the trio pushed themselves to the limit.


    They strained their arms again and attempted to pull the blue silverish stone once again.


    The cave room began to crack all around them, rocks began to fall from the ceilings, and small craters split open the ground.


    But despite going all out, they still couldn''t move the blue silverish stone a single inch.


    Eventually, the trio gave up, turning off their bloodline state and returning the room back to a calm order.


    "Jeez! What''s with this oversized stone? I can''t even precisely sense the amount of energying from it." Ani sighed her frustration.


    Masami, though, suddenly recalled a vivid memory.


    From their previous conversation about Divine Spirits and the oddity of this stone, Masami blurted out, "I may have a clue on what this is! One time, my Grandma just randomly told me this story about how the strongest of Demigods supposedly found the infinite power source in the Plunged Tundra. But none of them could pass through a mysterious barrier.maybe this is."


    Darcel and Ani briefly contemte it.


    Darcel first spoke up, saying, "Your Grandma sure knows a lot. But while this could be it, we simply have no way of taking this stone even at our full power."


    "When we leave, we have to mark this cave. I''m sure we can quickly grow strong enough and take this oversized stone in no time!" Ani suggested, and Masami nodded in agreement with her.


    For a moment, Darcel thought if any of this had to do with Sariel.


    He kept the thought in the back of his mind and pointed to a clear exit of this room. "Seems like there''s nothing left in this room. And thankfully, there''s no dead-end here. Let''s return back to the surface."


    "Finally! To the real world!" Ani excitedly eximed.


    "I just can''t wait to show the whole Province our new gifts." Masami also held evident eagerness in her voice.


    But before continuing to leave, Darcel looked over Masami''s appearance. Her hoodie is ruined, and she could no longer hide her two tails in the tattered state of her clothes.


    So Darcel asked her, "Masami, your clothes got ruined from all of this. Surely people would recognize you now."


    Instead of even a slight look of concern, Masami just broadly smiled at Darcel, showcasing her sharp canine teeth.


    "Well, actually, believe it or not, outside of my sect, I''m not the most recognizable out of my ''genius'' siblings. Being the lowest talent leaves you with less fame in the outside world. My Grandma mainly made me wear this robe for any of our enemies who would try to kidnap me. But with our power now, hmph! I have no need to hide my face. Plus, we literally have no other options since we don''t have any spare clothes."


    Ani hums, seeing Masami''s point, and knows they have limited options as of now. "Ah well, Darcy. We truly can''t do anything about it right now. Our best bet is finding some sort of town fast and getting something to cover her identity again. Better safe than sorry little fox."


    Though Masami had a reinvigorated fighting spirit, she also understood the importance of safety first.


    "Hmmm....you''re right. But we also don''t have to live in fear for the while my appearance is exposed."


    With that out of the way, Darcel smirked and nodded at the girls.


    He began walking to the exit, telling them, "Let''s reintroduce ourselves to the world, shall we?"


    .


    Hundreds of thousand miles away from Darcel''s group, an hidden, unknown meeting was secretly urring in the Ice Nine Tails sect.


    In the same beautiful room where there was an abundance of Nine Tails Foxes sculpture, Ryota and Mika were right back in there.


    They were leaning on the wall by the window, waiting for the third person toe. The couple stood six feet apart from each other, and a strange, tense silence filled the room.


    Neither Ryota nor Mika took a single nce at each other since they arrived here.


    It wasn''t until a sudden thought streaked into Ryota''s head and he began to talk, hoping to break this awkward, tense silence.


    "You know.since there''s still going on with that Mercenary event, we''re still thest one that still hasn''t decided. Have you finally made up your mind on who we should send for training?"


    "Heh!" Mika scoff without care about raising Ryota''s ire. "That''s all you have to say after all this time?"


    For a split second, Ryota truly did felt his annoyance prick. But he forcefully calmed himself and clicked his tongue.


    "Tch. It''s a decision we''ll need to make it soon. Plus, let''s not forget you''ve been avoiding me all this time. So yes, I do think it''s a good opportunity to ask."


    Mika stayed silent for a moment. She calmly replied to Ryota, telling him, "We''ll examine who''s at the top of the disciple rankingter."


    Ryota only grunted in response, and they both were about to fall back into a tense silence.


    But right then, the door to this room quietly open, revealing the mysterious Nomiya.


    Mika instantly became ted; her five fox tails swirled in eager anticipation. She broke off her previous silence and promptly asked Nomiya,


    "Grandma Sage! So?! Did you find her?!"


    Nomiya, in contrast to Mika''s excitement, was perfectly calm. She looked between Mika and Ryota, telling them both, "You two need to work on your personal issues. Less you want our faction to fall even further behind."


    "Tch! Yes, Grandmother Sage, you say that every time we meet together. But respectfully, don''t we have more pressing issues at hand?"


    Ryota didn''t hold the same excitement as Mika, but he was clearly eager to hear any good news.


    Nomiya evenly answered their wishes, telling the parents, "Masami. She''s alive."


    Both Mika and Ryota became ecstatic! Their faces briefly lit up, their five fox tails fervently swirled in excitement, and their fox ears perked up.


    They both were thrilled until Nomiya said next,


    "But, we can''t track her."


    Immediately, both Mika and Ryota''s fox tails and fox ears depressingly dropped down. Their expressions fell, bing entirely distraught.