Chapter 99: Unhindered

Halting their forward progression was a profound blue barrier.

The two couldn't see past the barrier, and any hail that hit the barrier was absorbed into it. It is almost slightly mesmerizing to see the small blue hail get magically absorbed by the barrier.

Truthfully it seemed like Darcel and Aniela may have to do something specific to get past the sudden blue barrier.

But neither of the duos had the patience for that.

In the most direct way possible, Darcel and Aniela charged right at the blue barrier!

They were fully confident of their incredible surges of their full power souls and didn't believe this mere barrier would stop them.

'Chi!'

As they already expected, Darcel and Aniela easily tore through the blue barrier creating a massive hole behind them. And once on the other side of the blue barrier, the hole quickly reformed itself and closed up.

Once on the other side, Darcel and Aniela were immediately greeted by a change of scenery.

Instead of the blinding hail storm, it was now small rain of icicles storming around the snowy lands.

The sound of Ice continuously breaking rang in Darcel and Aniela's ears as whatever icicle happened to land on them was promptly destroyed by their Darkness-Light soul barrier.

"A slight change of scenery but a nice change of scenery. I wonder if we had just now made a new record without anyone knowing about it." Darcel wonderingly said out loud.

"Heeh….in a way, we really did just made history! At least this will be a historical event in our minds. But now that we're here, how far does the pendant want us to go?"

Compared to Darcel, Aniela could only vaguely feel where the soul pendant wanted them to go. But she couldn't accurately pinpoint the direction like Darcel could.

"Mnn….it's saying….this way." Darcel nudged his head towards the left a bit.

Though he soon realized doing this was a bit pointless, seeing as he and Aniela had their hands clasped with each other.

"Alright, let's go!" Aniela felt every fiber of her being roar with palatable excitement.

In sync once again, Darcel and Aniela became streaks of Darkness and white Light as they blasted off in the icicle storm.

Just like the last place, the storm here made it extremely difficult to see anything. Yet visions weren't so much of a problem seeing how Darcel got their pendant to guide them.

Their speeds still remained steady and swift in this new place.

The force trying to affect and suppress their souls did get stronger and even more violent. However, any attempt was still utterly useless against the full extent of Darcle and Aniela's souls.

The duo was unhindered, barreling through the icicle storm and crossed great distances for an unknown amount of time.

Darcel and Aniela and felt like hours passed already.

With their speed, the two calculated, they must've run for ten miles straight!

And in actuality, only several minutes passed!

Right as they passed the tenth-mile threshold, though, was when things began to change.

The icicle storm that was pretty normal up to this point began to change.

Darcel and Aniela saw as they were running, the icicle beginning to change their course to go directly at them!

Still, the sharp icicles couldn't damage their Darkness-Light soul barrier, but the duo did feel the impacts get more violent. The two could feel their barrier slightly quake as every single icicle burst upon impact.

With the quick rapid steps they took, Darcel and Aniela found it magical how the icicle was suddenly changing.

It was like a powerful cultivator that controlled the ice's element was making the icicle storm directly target them. After all, if the duo were to, for some god unknown reason, dropped their soul barrier, then they would get accurately skewered instantaneously.

And by the time they reached the thirty-mile landmark, every single speck of the icicle storm charged right at them.

Darcel and Aniela briefly stopped to get a full view of the icicle hell they rushed into.

They could at least see out of their Darkness-Light soul barrier and watch as the icicles smash and break against their soul barrier.

Darcel momentarily wondered if using regular cultivation would be useful here if one soul was rapidly draining energy while defending. Although he guessed that would only drain a cultivator even more.

Luckily for him and Aniela, despite their Darkness-Light soul barrier getting continuously clashed, their soul energy was still full and vibrant.

"Oh, wow! This is almost magical to look at if it didn't want our blood to paint the snow!"

Aniela fluttered her eyebrows, enjoying the gorgeous sight of wisps of blue energy flying up into the air after every icicle was destroyed.

Still, neither of the duo could feel their soul weighing with suppression, allowing them to stop and witness magical sights like this.

"As creative as this is, we still don't know what kind of other traps lie in this place if it can make an icicle storm suddenly target only us. Let's keep moving."

'Hua!'

And without any further words, Darcel and Aniela blasted through the magical icicle storm and tore every icicle crashing against them.

Constant pangs noises ranged in their ears, but nothing could stop their momentum.

The piled-up snow on the ground grew in this place and flew everywhere in Darcel and Anieal's mad dash.

It wasn't before long then that Darcel felt as if they were coming upon the end of this place. Only this time, he and Aniela felt an unfathomable sensation cross into their souls.

Quickly a bright blue light entered their vision once again.

From up ahead, Darcel and Aniela's eyes could make out a familiar sight. It was once again another bright blue barrier halting any kind of progression.

Though this blue barrier did have somewhat of a different appearance. Its blue coat shine just seemed a tad bit shinier, making it more luxurious looking.

Furthermore, Darcel and Aniela could now clearly see the blue barrier surge with power. It was like the blue barrier was pulsating akin to a beating heart.

Immense waves of power coursed in their air, making the atmosphere far more chaotic at this part of the place.

"Hmmm…." Both Darcel and Aniela didn't blindly rush in this time.

The unfathomable sensation they felt was actually penetrating into their souls, clashing against them to weigh a notable suppression.

The raging icicle storm was still targeting them specifically as well, relentlessly trying to pierce their soul barrier.

They only took a few seconds to think, and then, an idea suddenly spawn in Darcel and Aniela's minds. Their faces lifted up, and their eyes gained a twinkling shine.

They wanted to test the waters of the blue barrier. So with a short hop, Darcel and Aniela got right next to the blue barrier.

Darcel struck out with the fist that held the pendant, while Aniela struck out with her other hand towards the blue barrier.

'Bang!'

A loud-sounding impact reverberated in the duo's ears as they also felt like their hands had just clashed against impenetrable metal!

Some surprise entered Darcel and Aniela's eyes as this was a punch using the full extent of their soul powers.

And yet, while the first blue barrier was easily torn through. This blue barrier remained firm and strong.

"Hah! Great! And here I thought we would have no more fun here! Let's hold absolutely nothing back now Darcy!" Aniela exclaimed with zealous excitement.

Being pressured and challenge like this is one thing that would always get her engine roaring. And the fervent settlement was shared with Darcel going by the increasing battle-hungry smile dawning his face.

"Indeed, let's blast through here. Now since something can temporarily stop us, I hope we get something to actually fight against."

Darcel balled the pendant in his hand and began to surge his slumbering bloodline.

Aniela as well began surging her bloodline at the same time. Their bloodline arms quickly started to shine, and their completed wing tattoo markings swiftly appeared on their arms.

In just a quick second, a luminous Darkness shine encased Darcel's bloodline arm. And a radiant white Light glow enriched Aniela's bloodline arm.

Their bodies crackled with absolute power, feeling everything getting amplified by combining their bloodline powers with their soul powers.

Darcel and Aniela weren't sure anybody else had attempted this before, but it went smoothly for them.

For a brief moment, Darcel and Aniela paused. They quickly surged their bloodline power to its highest degree, letting their Darkness-Light soul barrier crackle with immense power.

And then, with zero hesitation, Darcel and Aniela jumped right towards the blue barrier!

'Chi!'

Now, just like last time, Darcel and Aniela burst right through the barrier!

A huge hole had opened up in the blue barrier; however, once the duo was on the other side, the barrier quickly repaired itself.

Not looking behind them, Darcel and Aniela's eyes reorientated on another new change of scenery. There wasn't any ringing sound of crashes or violent gushes of stormy weather.

Instead, what greeted the duo's eyes was a misty fog that made it nearly impossible to clearly see like all other previous weather conditions.

Yet, the continuous state of near blindness only made Darcel and Aniela feel more excited.

"Oooh….now the challenges are getting more intense and mysterious. Now the Misty Haze Pits is truly living up to its ominous name!"

All Aniela's eyes could see was endless misty fog akin to something out of a horror tale.

Darcel was about to speak until right then, his soul pendant began to furiously tremble. He lifted his hand and watched the soul pendant toss about in his palm.

"More mysterious and right close to our reward. See this? The pendant is telling us we're just about to reach that supposed ultimate treasure. Ready to claim our reward Aniela?"

"With pleasure Darcy!"

Darcel's eyes had then turned towards a specific direction. Through the near blinding misty fog, his soul pendant was directing him to go over there for that great treasure.

Without any further words needed, Darcel and Aniela had then taken off sprinting in the blinding misty fog.

Their movement this time was a bit stiff as the soul suppression increased tremendously here.

Yet, it wasn't significant enough to the point where it would affect their combat prowess and overall movement.

Several steps in their run, Darcel and Aniela slightly creased their eyebrows. Running through the misty fog felt a bit odd for the duo.

They had come to expect something clashing or trying to pierce into their Darkness-Light soul barrier by now in these Misty Haze Pits. But running through here was almost calming in a mysterious way.

They took it felt as if they were making progress and zero progress at the same time with each step.

If Darcel didn't have this soul pendant, he was sure he and Aniela wouldn't even find their way back through this place in only a few short steps!

Darcel and Aniela slowed their pace a bit as Darcel could feel they were really close now.

However, they soon moved their bodies to a screeching halt.

For the first since coming here, Darcel and Aniela picked up another being from their Spirit Senses!

Quickly their Spirit Sense spread out to pick up on an Innate Core Spirit Monster just tens of meters away from them! Furthermore, they sensed the Spirit Monster was coming straight at them.

"Hmmm….Darcy, is that pendant pointing at the monster for our treasure?" Aniela guessed as it was clear as day to her on what was going to happen next.

Darcel caressed the soul pendant, and expectedly nodded his head. "Yep. Looks like we're going to have to fight to get our treasure. But this….is what you also wanted, right?"

"Right!"

Simultaneously broad, battle-hungry smiles split on to Darcel and Aniela's face. This would be their first proper fight with an Innate Core powerhouse!

And neither were nervous; they only felt thrilling anticipation spill into their bodies.