Chapter 259: Pushing Forward

"Fufu~ expected no less from you two. Picking up flying as easy as walking. Sometimes, we really do put other cultivators to shame." Masami giggly boasted with an incredibly smug tone. Though, there indeed wasn't any inflated lie in her words.

Even when Masami compared themselves to the disciples in her sect, not even the average or genius ones master flying at the early rank of the Innate Core realm. 

As giddy as she felt, Masami did feel a slight feeling of loss mixed in with her joyous feeling.

Taking Darcel and Aniela's hands to fly was quite fun and also a bit of a bonding experience since they held complete faith in her to take them through the air.

Still, the fact that she can fly with the people she loves would be an incredible bonding experience as well. 

Darcel didn't need to sense it from his Darkness Soul link to feel the excitement radiating off from Aniela and Masami.

His Innate Spirit Sense was spread out far, picking up on any little detail that he could possibly pick up. Despite traversing this far, there still wasn't any dangerous presence or squadron group close to them.

Since they were apparently still all alone, a more fun thought streaked into Darcel's mind. Not only would this be a fun time for the girls, but this would also majorly help them in having a higher vantage point to locate anything suspicious.

Right then, Darcel was about to speak up about his idea. 

But a bright twinkle appeared in Aniela's eyes first. She tossed her eager gaze up to the slightly yellow shaded sky, her feelings becoming slightly mixed as that color tint brought up unpleasant memories.

But forcing past those uncomfortable feelings, Aniela beat Darcel to the punch as she spoke in a jovial tone that was befitting for her. 

"Saaay….there's still no one around us. Let's go past hovering just a mere few feet and go up higher as a trio! This will be even a better practice!"

"Took the words right out of my head, Aniela. You up for it, Masami?" Darcel asked, already feeling his anticipation building. 

Previously, just in case they could get seen or struck down by some flying Spirit Monster, he told Aniela to only just practice with hovering.

Now that they have a solid grasp over flying with Innate Qi and with still no one around, this would be the appropriate time to soar to the skies. 

And Masami didn't disappoint, matching Darcel and Aniela's anticipation with a broad smile of her own. "Do you even need to ask? Let's get up!"

With Masami's words of confirmation, she, Darcel, and Aniela stopped walking. In that instance, Darcel and Aniela began to manipulate their Innate Qi again, while Masami began surging a tiny bit of her Heavenly Qi seed.

Even though she could just simply use her preexisting Innate Qi inside her Innate Core to fly. Masami wanted to test if there would be any difference between the two Qi energies.

And it came to a minimal shock for Masami when she felt it was tremendously easier to fly with Heavenly Qi. Though she never had a problem with flying before, Heavenly Qi made it like she was a weightless feather.

An exhilarating rush flowed through Masami as this would also be a new practice for her. 

At the same time, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami gradually rise up in the air, doing it so seamlessly like it was their second nature.

In just a few seconds, the trio quickens their pace, going a hundred feet high in the air. Once reaching this altitude, the three of them stopped simultaneously. A fresh breeze of air brushes past their skin, inscribing the trio with a surprising sense of warmth.

Even though it's still freezing cold in this realm, flying side by side to each other felt incredibly warm. 

Masami flashed a smirk over to Darcel and Aniela, enjoying their looks of serene bliss. Feeling her own serene bliss swell up inside her chest, she asked them, 

"So? How's it like fully rising in the air?" 

"Mnn~" Aniela gave a melodic hum that was sweet-sounding on Darcel and Masami's ears. "Certainly a wonderful new experience. I can't help but wonder just how fast we can reach while flying." She spoke in an inquisitive tone. 

With their high cultivation realms now, it had dawned on the trio that using Spirit Monster mounts wasn't really all that valuable to them now.

While just keeping a steady float high in the air, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami barely sensed any of their Qi reserves getting drained. 

For most Innate Core cultivators and even Heavenly Kings, they would still value beast mounts since it takes them a substantial amount of reserves to cover great distances.

But, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami felt that even if they were to go breakneck speeds for hours, their Qi reserves wouldn't go down in the slightest. 

It was most certainly an intriguing thought that swam around in their minds.

However, Darcel pushed down that idea, reserving for a time when they could fully relax and enjoy their time together. Although, with how things are turning out, it may be an overly long time before they could reach that moment.

Still, Darcel shook his head of any negative thoughts and focused on the girls. He began to speak in a cautious tone as his Spirit Sense continually roamed around their general area. 

"We can test our max flying speeds another time. For now, let's not go too high in the air, maintain this altitude, and traverse while flying rather than walking. Aniela and I could use any extra practice, and it feels more soothing to fly than walk."

Aniela and Masami crossed their gazes to each other, their eyes lighting up in the same eager twinkle. 

"Alright/Sounds good to me." Aniela and Masami spoke at the same time, having almost a harmonizing mixed voice.

Darcel searched his eyes through the snowy forest area and settled in some random direction. He inclined his head towards the random direction and began to steadily fly that way. 

Aniela and Masami followed close behind him, letting Darcel take the slight lead once again. 

And steadily, just like this, the trio flew towards this random direction, all hoping for some unexpected and potentially lucky encounter.

As they flew, Aniela and Masami were engaged in their usual jovial conversations. They were discussing the sensations of flying, how the environment looks from up and above, and the potential routes they could take if they found nothing on this one.

From the way they talked, it almost seemed like they were back to their original chipper selves. Their original personality were there was nothing that could really worry them, and they had high energy towards getting through the day.

But, Darcel could feel they both were suppressing imprinted negative thoughts. Really, no matter how tough their mental fortitude was, even they couldn't get over intense trauma so quickly.

Even for other experience, veteran ancient cultivators who all had thousands of years of experience. They, too, wouldn't be able to forget the severe traumas they faced in this unrelenting world, which forged them all to become peerless experts.

Still, even though this unresolved trauma issue won't be solved anytime soon, Darcel had respected the efforts the girls were making to keep on pushing forward. 

Most other youths in their position would have their mental collapse over an experience that was genuinely akin to death and having their prowess brutally stripped away from them.

Although Darcel partially knew the reason why they could do so well in pushing forward was because of himself. He would never underestimate his girl's strength and mind, but he could catch the different look in their eyes when staring at him.

There was almost a blinding hope in their eyes as if Darcel was the firmest anchor in their lives. 

When they both were at their most depressive state after awakening from the yellow-eyed woman meeting, Darcel was the only one that had a resolute hope and firmness in his voice.

And the other moment that left a deep, profound impact on them was Darcel forcefully staying awake from the Shadow Rogue Captain's attack and taking care of both of their unconscious bodies.

It was then they fully realized, no matter how grueling it would get, Darcel would be up and firm to have a way out. 

And Aniela and Masami obviously didn't want to burden Darcel or drag him down. After taking the Qi Root Fruit, their minds had also sharply determined to get past their bleak situation and survive together! 

Darcel could vaguely feel all of their conflicting emotions through their Darkness Soul link. At least this way, they were making gradual progress in changing their mindset, which was good enough for him. 

Focusing back on the present, Darcel still diligently searched around for his Spirit Sense.

At this point, Darcel really didn't expect to pick up anything in this area. But right then, after what seemed like endless seclusion, a shift happened in Darcel's Spirit Sense.

Darcel immediately wrinkled his eyebrows; finally, after what felt like hours, he sensed five other presences! It was, of course, a squadron of powerful Heavenly Kings that should've given him a tremendous sense of danger.

The appropriate reaction should've been to promptly grab the girls, flow behind an enormous tree, and masked their presence. 

However….Darcel didn't do any of that.

His eyes were rapidly blinking as a hard-hitting realization struck his mind. Out of the five presences, the strongest one of them all felt immensely familiar towards Darcel!