Yin & Yang Pleasures of Cultivation

Chapter 230: Phantom Golden Spirit (2)

A deep Darkness glow was bursting out of Darcel's eyes like a sea of Darkness. His bloodline powers and soul's core was in a high state of pulsating with a significant surge of energy.

Darcel's eyebrows knitted together as the strain from his soul's core got increasingly strenuous. But the budding rage inside him made him ignore the severe pain and only focus on gathering the most power he can.

Darcel wasn't exactly sure what was going on during these rage-filled moments. 

There had been numerous times in his past that he felt a surge of anger boil over whenever Aniela got hurt. But during those times, he always had a degree of control over the situation. 

Even when recalling the Black Labyrinth Dungeon events, that creature was relentlessly pursuing him, and Aniela failed every time to kill them.

And afterward, they both experienced a tremendous amount of growth where that horrid creature became nothing but an ant to them. 

Ever since then, Darcel really couldn't think of a time where his life was in a perilous situation.

However, in this situation with the phantom Golden Crow Spirit, Darcel honestly couldn't say he can maintain decent control over the situation. 

He didn't know the sky would change; he didn't expect that Spirit Monster Hawk to be so strong and he never expected to encounter an actual Heavenly Sage power.

All of this, combined with the fact that this phantom Golden Crow Spirit is even slightly overpowering them, fueled an unknown rage Darcel didn't think he had. 

This rage had briefly appeared with the Spirit Monster Hawk and now was making a return against this phantom Golden Crow Spirit.

The Darkness glow on Darcel's bloodline arm quickly turns intense. The small feathers on his arm began to furiously wriggle about as if they wanted to blast out of Darcel's arm. 

In the instance Darcel had got back on his feet, he raised his bloodline arm straight at the phantom Golden Crow Spirit.

Before the phantom beast could react, a mass swirl of Darkness energy burst at the center of Darcel's palm. And from the mass swirl of Darkness energy, Darcel blasted a vast Darkness energy Claw!

Compared to all other attacks of his, this form of Darcel's Darkness Claw had a noticeable appearance change. There was now small black feathers sprouting from his Darkness Claw, giving it a more unique look,

There were very tiny cracks in the air from Darcel's rage-filled power as his Darkness Claw soared towards the phantom Golden Crow Spirit. 

These cracks were actually minor distortions in spatial space caused all by Darcel's own prowess.

The phantom Golden Crow Spirit eyes narrowed as it sensed a legitimate threat from this attack. 

"Skwa!!"

Its fiery eyes spurted small golden rays of light as its Heavenly Sage aura frantically increased. 

With a flap of its mighty wings, the phantom Golden Crow Spirit dived straight down at Darcel's Darkness Claw, intending to shred right through it. 

Its Sage aura blared down at Darcel's Darkness Claw in an attempt to stall the attack.

However, against the phantom Golden Crow Spirit expectation, Darcel's Darkness Claw traveled through its Sage aura! 

His prowess wasn't enough to shred the phantom beast's Sage aura completely, but it was enough to directly strike its body.

The phantom Golden Crow Spirit, though surprised, didn't stop its charge towards the Darkness Claw. 

'Bang!'

Darcel's Darkness Claw exploded on the first contact with the phantom Golden Crow Spirit.

But instead of the phantom beast continuing its charge from seemingly exploding Darcel's attack, the air began to freeze around it. 

The remnants of Darkness' essence energy from Darcel's attack didn't disappear. Instead the Darkness's essence energy quickly wrapped onto the phantom Golden Crow Spirit body. 

The phantom beast genuinely couldn't move for a second. When clashing with Darcel's Darkness Claw attack, it was hit with a sudden powerful wave of Darkness essence lustful energy.

When the powerful wave of Darkness essence lustful energy drilled into its beak, the phantom Golden Crow Spirit got temporarily fazed. 

Although it doesn't have an actual body, Darcel's Darkness lustful energy had still clashed with the power keeping it alive.

And once it was fazed, the remaining remnants of Darcel's Darkness essence energy acted as if it had a mind on its own. It had taken the chance to wholly cover up the vast phantom beast. 

Waves and waves of Darcel's Darkness essence energy continuously smashed against the phantom Golden Crow Spirit's Heavenly Sage energy. 

For a fiery beast like itself, the phantom Golden Crow Spirit was actually feeling an intense heat spread throughout its body. 

The phantom Golden Spirit couldn't continue on to Darcel now. It had to stop and take the time to quickly purge this Darkness essence energy from its body. 

And in the instance it started the purge, a blinding white light began surging from the ground.

Aniela had already shot up to her feet after her couple of seconds of being entirely dazed. A chilling cold gaze encompassed her face as that gale wind attack was a severe blow to her mind and body.

"Hm. Flash!!" 

Her bloodline arm burst with her soul stunning flashbang, shooting it up towards the phantom Golden Crow Spirit. 

Unlike Darcel, Aniela wasn't receiving any rage-filled boost to her prowess. But it didn't lessen her Killing Intent towards the phantom beast. 

Though Aniela never really liked to show it as much as Darcel or Masami, she had a certain pride in her own prowess. 

And getting so easily knocked down and becoming dazedly fazed wasn't something Aniela could so easily sallow. Especially considering this isn't even a genuine Heavenly Sage cultivator that they're fighting.

It's just a mere Spirit Artifact that she and her partners took down several times before. 

And today, Aniela knows it will be no different! 

Up in the sky, the phantom Golden Crow Spirit stopped moving entirely.

For a highly ranked Spirit Artifact like itself, the phantom Golden Crow Spirit actually has a phantom soul. The phantom soul is what allows it to act independently and have no need to rely on the Crow Leaders lifeforce to stay thriving.

Although the cost for bringing out this powerful phantom beast was a tremendous decrease to the Crow Leader's lifespan, the results were obviously worth it. 

But never in their wildest dreams could they expect that the phantom Golden Crow Spirit was actually having its soul messed with.

Inside the phantom Golden Crow Spirit's phantom soul space, a bright glow covered every inch of it. Even though its phantom soul also had the prowess of the Heavenly Sage realm, it couldn't resist Aniela's bloodline soul stunning flashbang.

Back on the ground, Masami was the one to make the next move. She similarly had a terrifying enraged expression from getting smacked around so easily. 

But instead of charging her own attack, she grabbed Darcel's hand.

Right as Aniela unleashed her soul stunning flashbang, Masami had shared a look with Darcel. Even among the blinding white light, she could still spot Darcel's profound Darkness glowing eyes.

And with only a single look, Darcel had directed his eyes up, signaling Masami on what to do. 

No words were needed at all as Masami understood what he wanted her to do. The soul bond they had was that firm that Masami can feel out the vague intention on what Darcel wanted from her. 

And with Darcel in her grasp, Masami clenched down on his palm and immediately shot up into the skies.

She was a blue flaming blur tearing through the air, crossing miles high up. But despite how fast Masami was going, she stopped on a dime once she was high enough above the phantom Golden Crow Spirit.

Darcel was already prepared once they had reached this altitude. At the tip of one of his fingers was a small swirl of gray energy. 

This miniature gray energy exuded an unfathomable power that could suffocate peak level Heavenly Kings by just being in its general vicinity.

The power Darcel is gathering is the mysterious Chaotic Energy! 

This is his ultimate trump card, and the current situation desperately called for it. 

Usually, Darcel would be able to gather a bit more Chaotic Energy than this. But with the repeated, intense fights and a massive strain on his soul, this was the best Darcel could muster up. 

Still, with what Darcel could scrap up now, he hoped it was enough.

"Now." 

Was all Darcel said before Masami clenched down on his palm and swiftly flung Darcel towards the phantom Golden Crow Spirit. 

Masami's swung glid Darcel through the air like a missile, quickly reaching the phantom beat in mere seconds.

Right before Darcel crashed onto the phantom Golden Crow Spirit, the phantom beast actually began to struggle against Aniela's soul stunning energy. 

The golden beast can just feel an immense danger to its life, quickly rushing at it.

However, no matter how hard it struggled, Darcel's speed made it impossible for the phantom beast to break free. 

'Bang!' 

Darcel's Chaotic Energy fingertip crashed right onto the phantom Golden Crow Spirit's back.

The Darkness essence energy on its body vanished along with Aniela's Light energy when Chaotic Energy began ramping inside its body. 

Darcel grunted as he felt like his whole body was on fire while being basically on top of the phantom beast. And he felt his finger getting painfully roasted by the beast's fiery back. 

All the while, the phantom Golden Crow Spirit nearly lost the light in its eyes from Darcel's Chaotic Energy.

Immense pain rampaged its body as it and Darcel began careening towards the ground. 

In the midst of crashing towards the ground, the golden beast suddenly heard a voice echoed in its mind.

'Shit! What's with this kid?! Fine! I'll give you nearly all of my vitality!' 

Crow Theo's maddening shout blared in the golden beast's mind as they were Spiritually linked. And as he said so, a tremendous surge of power immediately raised in the phantom Golden Crow Spirit!

"Skwa!!" 

The golden beast unleashed a mighty roar as its new rise of power counteracted the rampaging Chaotic energy in its body. 

With the light back in its eyes, the phantom beast stretched out its talons and forcefully crashed onto its feet, sinking several meters into the ground.

"Wha?!" Darcel was utterly astounded as an immense wave of power nearly threw him off the golden beast. He just couldn't believe it. 

He thought Chaotic Energy would instantly clear any of his foes.

Even as he could use so little of it, Darcel didn't expect the golden beast to explode with another power surge. Now, Darcel felt his whole right arm was excruciatingly burning, and the intense heat spread to his entire body.

Before Darcel could even try to move off the golden beast, its rising surge of energy tightly suppressed his movement. 

And without even looking back, the phantom Golden Crow Spirit gave another loud screech and flung off Darcel from its back with a flap of its massive wings.

"Ah!" 

Masami loudly shouted as Darcel got sent soaring up through the sky like a broken ragdoll. She quickly flew over to Darcel, obviously wanting to catch him. 

But when she did catch him,

'Bang!'

Masami was sent darting into the sky like a jet while holding on to Darcel. The force behind that phantom Golden Crow new power surge tore through both of their bodies.

On the ground, the phantom Golden Crow Spirit felt its power rapidly drain after flinging Darcel off. Though it got rid of nearly all of the Chaotic Energy inside its body, it costed a massive sum to do so.

But right then, another tremendous threat of danger burst in the golden beast's senses. It wanted to react, but it was too late. 

Aniela's speed was swift as she jumped towards the golden beast and smashed her own Chaotic Energy fist right onto its chest!

'Bang!'

The phantom Golden Crow was sent sailing again. But before it shot off too far, a large golden feather blasted from its wings and sailed straight at Aniela. 

A sense of deja vu struck Aniela as she quickly put up a Light energy barrier.

Within only a split second of doing so, the large golden feather struck Aniela's Light energy barrier. It had then exploded in a massive golden fire explosion! 

Golden fire crazily discharged everywhere in the ruin field, causing even wider fiery destruction here.

"Nnng." Aniela held in her moans of pain as the Golden Fire explosion destroyed her Light energy barrier and sent her blasting backward. The golden beast's immense power wreaked utter havoc in her body.

Before she sailed far, Aniela felt a familiar warm body catch her. Looking back, she saw that Darcel had her in his arms while Masami still had him in her arms.

Pools of blood were leaking down both of their mouths as they were heavily panting. 

Although they were together again, none of them felt any relief. 

As Aniela turned her attention back forward, their Spirit Senses could still sense that damn phantom Golden Crow Spirit!

"Dammit! How long can this fucking bird last?!" Masami violently cursed, her sentiments of rage shared equally by Darcel and Aniela.