Chapter 197: Treasure Spot

Dusk was breaking into the day. It's the time where people either wake up from a well-rested sleep, finish a long cultivating session, or are simply continuing their work from last night.

The main point is, not too many people venture out so early in the morning as their mornings would already be preoccupied with busy work. 

But several miles away from New Branch City, at another secluded random spot in the Wild Snow Lands, three masked figures stood patiently in the gray mixed snow.

If any cultivator were to pass by this trio, nobody would even take the time to notice them. Their presence was nearly undetectable to any Heavenly Transformation cultivator.

And, of course, this trio was Darcel, Aniela, and Masami. 

They had just arrived not too long ago and were now waiting for their more relaxed Darkness Servants, Bella.

Darcel stood with his arms folded, contemplating last night's events.

After the meeting, Darcel decided they should finish cultivating everything else inside the resource ring Zara gave them. He wasn't worried about using up all the green crystals since they could simply get more from Zara.

However, despite a hefty amount of resources still left inside the ring, neither he, Aniela, nor Masami breakthrough. In fact, he barely felt any of their cultivation rise. 

Darcel expected this minimal lack of progress, though. And he knew later today, they'll gain a tremendous resource that'll shave off weeks of cultivation. 

As for Aniela and Masami, they were chatting with each other. Their current topic of discussion was their lethargic servant.

"Hmph, just watch. I'm betting that lazed one will show up at least fifteen minutes late. Or maybe more. Her attitude is just as annoying as that damn proud one." Masami puffed up her foxtails and snorted.

"Weeell….Darcy never really specified a time. And he did only ping her just a couple of minutes before. But, I won't be surprised if she's wiping the sleep out of her eyes now." Aniela was wryly shrugging her shoulders.

Darcel smiled as they talked, not feeling any tension at all before their mission. At this point, with how casually he, Aniela, and even Masami now act when they have to face a troublesome task, Darcel wonders if they'll ever get that sense of blood-pumping danger.

Although Darcel knows the importance of always planning ahead. He can admit it was genuinely thrilling to fight against monstrously powerful foes or facing an unknown variable. 

Pleasure in lust would always come first, but Darcel could also say there was a pleasure to be had in life's thrilling battles.

Before Darcel could continue this train of thoughts, his, Aniela, and Masami picked up on a presence swiftly approaching them. 

"Ahh, Master and Mistresses. You weren't kidding about being early. I guess because of how I usually am, you would be right to doubt my attendance. But I actually made sure to get up early for today."

To the trio's right side, their eyes peered over to Bella, slowly walking up to them. 

She was lazily waving her hand at them, and Darcel and the girls could spot that Bella's eyes seemed even lazier than usual.

Masami simply huffed, obviously not expecting Bella to just instantly arrive but also won't take back what she said. "Seriously, I can't believe you're the one with this supposed crazily hidden talent. I would've even believed the two little loud ones more compared to you."

Bella didn't react negatively to Masam's backhanded praise at all. 

Even before going under her Master, Bella could safely say she was used to most kinds of people's attitudes. 

Bella simply gave Masami her most sincere smiles, telling her, "Thanks for the praise, Mistress. I'm just hoping I'll have more chances to show off my hidden talents. It's a nice way to pass the time."

Aniela began nudging Masami's shoulder, getting her attention. 

"At least she has a far more pleasant tongue out of our Darkness Servants, eh? That should at least count for something." Aniela teasingly said.

Masami rolled her eyes from behind her mask. She turned her gaze over to Darcel, asking, "So since she's here, should we leave right away." There was an apparent eager tone dripped in her voice for today's events.

Darcel didn't immediately answer. He inquisitively trailed his gaze up and down Bella, who kept her usual easygoing smile. 

Darcel had then asked Bella, "Have you improved at all last night?"

"Yea, Master. I did some tests outside of the Wild Snow Lands, and I found out I can now perfectly hide from ninth-level Heavenly Transformations people. I would've practiced inside the city, but Kyra hasn't broken through yet, and all other ninth level Heavenly Kings are basically hermits inside their bases." 

Aniela and Masami paused for a moment. They were finally a bit surprised at how swift Bella's progress is. Even with Darcel's Darkness Essence majorly supporting her, that progress was actually good.

Although Aniela and Masami didn't let it show on their bodies. They both harrumphed at the same time, saying, 

"Hm. Not Bad." 

Darcel felt mild amusement from his girls and Bella's reaction.

Through his Darkness Soul link, he can tell Bella was feeling a bit of pride over getting Aniela and Masami to slightly acknowledge her. 

Although going by how her relaxed smile never left her face, it would be hard to tell she was feeling pride.

Darcel pushed down his mild amusement and had then told Bella, "Since it's like this, we'll have no complications for this mission. Alright, Bella, take us towards the treasure spot. When they arrive, and that Mage opens up the cave, we'll strike."

Bella nodded, turned around, and told the trio, "It's just over this way here. It won't take long to get to." 

And with that, Bella flew into the sky. 

Masami had quickly grabbed both Darcel and Aniela's hands and took off into the sky, following right behind Bella.

….

After some time of flying behind Bella, Aniela's eyes began to blink at an upcoming sight. She squinted her eyes at familiar imagery she thought she wouldn't see again for quite some time.

"Huh….this place….it seems so….Ah!" It had quickly clicked in Aniela's head on why this place looked so familiar. 

Masami tilted her head, not recognizing what Aniela was referring to.

But after a split second, she too felt it clicked in her mind as she stared deeply into a cave filled with gray mixed snow. 

Darcel had instantly recognized the cave when he first saw it. It was the cave they came out of and had led them to New Branch City. 

For future references, Darcel had memorized this particular cave structure in his mind. 

Initially, the trio thought they were going up to that cave.

But Bella didn't even react to that cave. She suddenly made a sharp turn left, slightly throwing off the trio. 

Masami had no problem following Bella's sudden turn, but her, Aniela, and Darcel's mind were on that cave.

They briefly wondered if this was more to explore in that cave. None of them had suggested going off the one beaten path there, primarily focusing on making it back to civilization.

Yet now, with the missions they're on, the trio wondered if there's a hidden depth to that cave. 

After all, it is where that unmovable blue silverish sphere is and those shards that instantly enhanced their cultivation. Darcel and Aniela even had further thoughts in thinking they can find something else related to Sariel there. 

Keeping these ideas in the back of their mind, Masami kept following Bella for three more miles.

The four of them had eventually came upon an empty gray mixed snowfield. 

Bella landed on the empty field, and Masami closely followed behind. Once landing, Masami, Aniela, and Darcel began curiously looking around.

None of them could pick up anything in their Spirit Sense. And considering their Spirit Sense can pick up on even the slightest of detail, the trio made a guess that Magic Power may be imbued to the ground.

"And here we are, Master, Mistresses." Bella had spread her arms open wide. "The spot for our treasure. Should we just hide now, Master? I assume the White Demon group won't be here for some time."

Darcel nodded, saying, "I suppose so." 

Aniela and Masami quickly cling to his arms then, squishing their soft breasts onto Darcel's arms. 

"Let's get reaal comfortable before we have to fight, shall we?" Aniela said in a slightly teasing tone.

"Hm. It's the best time waster." Masami remarked, trying to keep her tone as even as possible. 

Darcel couldn't stop a slight smile from forming on his face. At the same time, he, Aniela, and Masami swiftly vanished from Bella's sight with their superior speeds.

Bella wryly smiled at her Mistresses antics. She shrugged to herself and flew off to find a good hiding place that would also serve as a good resting place.

….

Several hours quickly passed. 

On the horizon, numerous men were slowly approaching the empty snowfield Darcel's group left at. 

This group of men getup could be spotted from miles away.

Nearly all of the men were dressed in shiny white armor that shimmered against the gray mixed snow. And out of the sea of white armor men, only one man was wearing all black Mage's robes.

There wasn't a single man in that group that didn't appear to have a dauntingly aggressive stature. 

Nearly all of the white armor men slung terrifyingly large weapons over their shoulders, and each of their expressions was warped with immense greed.

Of course, the white armor men all hail from the White Demon group. And their lineup showed why they shouldn't be underestimated lightly. 

There were fifteen of them in total, and ten of them were seventh-level Heavenly Kings.

Four were eighth-level Heavenly Kings, and only one was a ninth-level Heavenly King. 

The ninth-level man stood at the front of the pack and had the most distinct look. His white armor looked to be the most polished, and there was a single short sword strapped to his back, in direct contrast to the others' overly large weapons.

This man was one of the Leaders of the White Demon group, Demon Mikal. And next to Demon Mikal was the black robe man. 

The black robe man was all-around elegant in his looks and stature. 

He had a tranquil expression permanently dawned on his face that exuded an aura of boundless confidence. His black robes also held the distinct design of a large black Raven on them.

The most notable thing about the man was the fact he didn't exude any speck of Heavenly aura. In fact, this man simply had no Qi in his body. 

But nobody considered the man weak at all as everyone there felt a faint pressure from the man's presence.

This black robe man was a Spirit Mage from the Raven Mage Order group, Raven Likal. 

Demon Mikal and Raven Likal led the group behind them, and Raven Likal stopped right at the center of the empty gray mixed snowfield. 

Demon Mikal promptly stopped as well, and so did the other White Demon group members.

As expected, the White Demon group members attempted to spread out their Spirit Sense. And there wasn't a single one that could pick up on anything in the air or below the ground.

Demon Mikal as well attempted to see if he could sense anything, but like his other members, there wasn't anything odd he could feel. 

His eyes trailed over to Raven Likal and spotted his eyebrows wrinkling.

Demon Mikal felt a small bubble of anticipation rise in him. Apparent greed bubbled on his face as their sweet heavenly treasure was here. 

He asked Raven Likal then, "So….is this the place?"

Raven Likal didn't immediately respond. He kept his eyes glued to the ground; his eyebrows was furrowing more by the second.

The other white Demon group members waited in rising anticipation. Despite none of them being able to sense anything, nobody bothered to question anything.

And after a few brief moments, a strange glint shimmered in Raven Likal's eyes.