Chapter 202: Destructive Breakthroughs

Back inside the rainbow color cave, frantic torrents of Qi energy were making an utter mess of the whole area. 

The floor had spiderwebs crack all over the place; rocks were either split off or burst from the walls from the sheer destructive power.

It was a mix of powerful Spirit Qi and Innate Qi chaotically bursting out of Darcel, Aniela, and Masami that was causing the crazy storms of energy. 

But this density of their pure Spirit Qi and Innate Qi far surpassed any regular Spirit Qi or Innate Qi. And this wasn't even their bloodline state. All of this destructive chaos was simply their base energies.

Even the most talented of geniuses with immensely powerful bloodlines couldn't cause this much destruction from breaking through. 

In fact, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami didn't even cause this kind of destruction when they had cultivated last night.

Bella wasn't even inside the cave anymore. One would be able to spot her lying on top of the rainbow color cave, her eyes still closed. Admittedly at this point, Bella was quickly growing unfazed to her Master and Mistress's never-before-seen specialties. 

Back inside the cave, the star-shaped Crystalline had nearly lost all of its rainbow radiance light. After a few hours of constant absorption, its rainbow glows heavily diluted, looking almost washed out.

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami still remained like statutes even after several hours. 

None of them could even notice the chaotic destruction around them. All they were focused on were the rapid progress made in their cultivation.

The trio was nearing the edge of their next breakthrough. 

Inside Darcel's dantian space, his True Soul Core had nine-layer links of Spirit Qi connecting towards his soulscape space. And now, a tenth layer link of Spirit Qi was rapidly forming.

It is nearly the same in Aniela's dantian space. Only she had eight-layer links of Spirit Qi, and a ninth one was quickly forming. 

Inside Masami's dantian space, her Innate Core grew to exponential size.

And on her Innate Core were eight enormous cracks of pure Innate Qi essence formed. Similar to the duo, there was also a ninth crack quickly splitting down Masami's Innate Core, signifying her near a breakthrough.

Throughout the rapid advancement, the trio made, neither Darcel, Aniela, nor Masami had to worry about any mental blocks. 

Any time one tried to block them from progressing to the next level, their already insane comprehension abilities would immediately shatter it.

Unknown to even Darcel, Aniela, and Masami, their comprehension abilities started to become something passive to them. It was like instinctive knowledge that's deeply planted into their brains, and they can't forget it.

It only took a few more seconds until Darcel, Aniela and Masami finally reached the edge for their final breakthrough here.

'Ka-Cha!' 

The rainbow Crystalline began shattering all over!

An immense burst of pure Qi blasted out of Darcel, Aniela, and Masami as they simultaneously reached a breakthrough! 

At the same time, the trio flung their eyes wide open, feeling an incredible rush of power completely fuel their bodies.

Darcel glanced down to his palm, clenching it, and felt his bones pop with power. Spirit Qi was essentially crackling out of palm. A rush of excitement washed over Darcel, but he managed to retain his calm.

He quickly did a brief scan over with his Spirit Sense on his, Aniela, and Masami's realms now. 

Darcel already knew that he's now at the tenth layer link of the True Soul Core realm! 

The absolute peak of the realm!

Aniela had reached the ninth layer link of the True Soul Core realm, just being a step behind him. While Masami had actually reached the ninth rank of the Innate Core realm! 

She was once again at the peak of the Innate Core realm.

Unadulterated Confidence began bursting out of Darcel then. With their prowess now, Darcel didn't have any doubts about dealing with anyone in the city. 

Even if someone has some rare, unique Spirit Artifact, Darcel wasn't going to fear it at all.

"Mnnn….Ahhhh~!"  Aniela's dreamy sigh brought Darcel out of his thoughts. She was stretching her arms, making her bones pop with pure Spirit Qi power. "And just like that, I'm nearing the peak of my realm. While you two are just a step away from a whole new realm!"

Masami eagerly nodded at Aniela; if either Darcel or Aniela could see her face, they would spot a broad grin that threatened to split her face. 

She excitedly said, "Not bad, not a bad find at all! Soon, we'll have this whole city under our thumb!"

For the briefest of second, Darcel turned his gaze back on the Crystalline, or what's left of the Crystalline. 

Only a single shard of the Crystalline hung in the air, and its rainbow glow was heavily dimmed. Littering the ground below the Crystalline was millions of tiny dulled shards, spotting no shine at all. 

Staring at the single shard left in the air, an idea streaked into Darcel's mind. He pushed the thought aside for a little bit later and returned his attention to the girls.

"Now then….wait…." Darcel's eyes began glancing around the cave. 

"Bella-"

"Congratulations Master and Mistresses." 

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami's attention turned around as Bella came walking through the entrance again.

"Your breakthrough was quite destructive before, so I was forced to hide out for a little bit," Bella explained to them. 

Right then, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami's eyes searched around the whole cave, finally noticing the destruction.

"Fuuu~! We didn't even cause such noise last night! I wonder what changed?" Aniela remarked in an impressed tone at the chaos they caused. 

"Well….it just had to be because of that now broken Crystalline, right?" Masami guessed with a shrug of her shoulders. 

Darcel also assumed it was because of the Crystalline, considering this was the only time he can recall that their Qi energy went wild during a breakthrough.

As Darcel was about to speak up, a bright purple flash coming from his pocket got everyone's attention. 

Darcel reached in and took out the purple flash, which was a contact ring, having the initial M on it.

The ring belongs to Melea. She didn't waste any time when she finally got through to Darcel, immediately telling him, "Ah! Master! You're finally done! During the time you've been gone, I have some great news for all of us! Oh, and congratulations on your breakthroughs."

"Thank you, Melea, but now, tell us what great news happened," Darcel asks in rising curiosity. 

Aniela and Masami listen in closely. Even if they both find Melea annoying, she would be the one with the most helpful intel.

Bella also focused up on listening since Melea didn't even bother to contact her about this apparent great news. 

"It's about Leader Kyrha. She had just become a ninth-level Heavenly King! Will this bring any changes to your plans?"

Immediately, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami felt any genuine anticipation died down. They weren't fretting about a ninth-level Heavenly King at all. 

The three of them had even briefly glanced over to each other, and behind their masks, they all were flashing confident smirks.

Bella, on the other hand, did feel a mild shock at this news. Mainly because it wasn't even that long since Leader Kyrha went into closed-door cultivation. 

But she also knew, ultimately, it won't matter in the end.

Darcel responded to Melea in a relaxed tone, saying, "Not at all, Melea. This changes nothing but does, in fact, become better for all of us. All you need to do now, Melea, is lure those other two leaders out. Once I mark them both, we can easily lure the last one out."

"Ok, Master....but….we may need a slightly different strategy for these two Master. Compared to me, Karis and Zillah aren't so easily willing to go out and help with any old task members are assigned to." Melea cautiously explained to him.

For a second, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami's eyes began glancing around the small cave. They could say they expected the other Snow Angels Leaders to fall in line with their group's general prude behavior.

Melea, Bella, Lauren, and Abby were indeed rare exceptions in their proud Mercenary group. 

As the trio started to look around, it didn't take long at all before their eyes focused on the last shard of the rainbow Crystalline. 

"Ah! I know what you're all thinking, right?" Aniela called out in a devious tone. 

"Oh, this is perfect! Even for all that pride, these Snow women have, they also are preyed to greed." Masami similarly remarked in a mischievous tone. 

"Eh? Mistresses? Have you found something else?" From the contact ring, Melea spoke up her confusion. 

Darcel was swift to answer her. "It's what we already have, Melea. From the Heavenly Crystalline we absorb, there's still a single shard left. And there's still a fair amount of energy nestling in it. What you will do, Melea, is come over to his cave and ping the Crystalline shard remaining aura to both Karis and Zillah. Given how your group so desperately wants strength, not even they can resist this temptation."

As Darcel talked, he was gauging the amount of Qi energy left in the rainbow Crystalline. 

From a quick scan over, he sensed there indeed was still a fair amount of energy left that'll have anybody lust over it.

After he and the girls achieved their latest breakthroughs, Darcel sensed it was like the rainbow Crystalline had forcefully cut itself off from them. 

He guessed it was an automatic attempt to preserve itself.

Even though the rainbow Crystalline Qi energy isn't nearly as potent as before, Darcel can just vaguely sense that its Qi energy was slowly regenerating. 

And when Darcel sensed it as slow, he really meant it was even slower than a snail pace.

If it wasn't for his own extraordinary Spirit Sense, Darcel wouldn't even be able to tell that the Crystalline could regenerate. 

On the other end of the contact ring, it went silent for a moment as Melea contemplated Darcel's idea.

After a moment, she told him, "This….yea….this could work, Master! As long as there's still a tiny bit of that Heavenly Crystalline aura there, I can fool both Karis and Zillah into coming. They, too, also like exploring for treasures anyways. But Master, what should I tell them about the dead White Demon group members since I just know you and Mistresses killed them all."

"Don't fret about that. We'll mostly clean up the area, but we'll let the stench of blood and death stay, so they don't gain any suspicions upon coming here. I'm sure you can make up a story from there." 

While talking, Darcel suddenly remembered that Demon Mikal had unluckily survived their ambushed attack. He briefly wondered if that guy was still in agony, struggling on to life, or kicked the bucket already. 

Either way, it was of little concern for him.

"I already have several plans and stories forming in my mind already, Master! So when should we start this?" 

Thinking it over, Darcel knew he and the girls quite literally have nothing else to do after this. So they really only had one option if they wanted to use their time effectively. 

Darcel told Melea, "No time like the present. You can come over first, and we'll have everything ready by then. Once you're here, we'll go over the plan once again."

Melea's voice became incredibly excited then. "Alright Master! Oh, I just know Kyrha, Zillah, and Karis will all love this when it's all over!" 

The contact ring went dead as it lost its luster.

"Ok, so I guess we're on slight cleaning duties…." Aniela spoke in a small wry tone. She suddenly turned her gaze on Bella, asking then, "But what should she be doing until Melea comes?"

"With simple Qi, cleaning is a small task. As for Bella, she'll stay here and continue to stay when Melea arrives. It'll help out Melea's story to lure those other women out." Darcel explained.

Bella didn't have a change in expression and simply nodded. 

Right then, Masami had suddenly perked up. She began to swiftly say, "Alright. For this battle, Aniela and I will be handling it. You already got your chance to show off Darcel."

Aniela rapidly nodded her head in eager agreement, telling him, "Sami's right. It's time for us to stretch our arms a bit Darcy." 

Darcel didn't have any objections and casually shrugged. "As you two wish." 

Although Darcel already knows their 'fight' will last five seconds at best. 

"Ah, Leader Melea shouldn't take too long to get here. She's always eager to please." Bella spoke up as she returned to leaning back on the cave's wall.

Darcel nodded, and he, Aniela, and Masami vanished from Bella's sight. 

Bella resumed closing her eyes, getting a bit of rest before the next crazy part of her day.